EDGAR  ALLAN   POE 


HOLLAND   PAPER,  LIBRARY  EDITION 


LIMITED     TO     FIVE     HUNDRED     COPIES 


THIS    COPY    IS    NO. 


Herpin  mv 


THE   GOLD    BUG 


THE  TALES  AND  POEMS 


EDGAR  ALLAN  POE 


WITH  BIOGRAPHICAL  ESSAY 


JOHN  H.  INGRAM 


(Original  (Etdjinga,  Jrioe  Jtyotogratmres 
an&  a  3te  (Etcljci}  portrait 


IN  Six  VOLUMES 
VOL.  I 

TALES  OF  IMAGINATION 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  BARRIE  &  SON,  PUBLISHERS 


PREFACE. 


Several  new  features  in  this  collection  of  Edgar 
Allan  Poe's  Tales  and  Poems  claim  attention. 
This  is  the  first  occasion  on  which  the  Tales  can 
be  said  to  have  been  illustrated,  as  it  is,  also,  the 
first  time  in  which  any  real  attempt  has  been  made 
to  classify  them :  the  Tales  of  Imagination  have 
now  been  separated — to  their  manifest  advantage 
— from  the  other  stories,  the  Tales  of  Humor,  the 
Miscellaneous  Stories  and  the  Poems.  A  very 
important  feature  in  this  edition  is  the  lengthy 
fragment,  "  The  Journal  of  Julius  Rodman : " 
this  romance  will  be  quite  new  to  Poe's  admirers, 
as  it  has  not  appeared  in  any  previous  collection. 
Among  the  Poems,  which  have  now  been  chrono- 
logically arranged,  some  new  pieces  will,  also,  be 
found.  All  the  writings  included  in  this  edition 
have  been  thoroughly  corrected  and  revised,  and, 

(v) 


vi  PREFACE. 

generally,  from  their  author's  amended  copies. 
Attention  may,  likewise,  be  called  to  the  circum- 
stance that  the  Introductory  Essay  deals  only 
with  the  facts,  and  quite  ignores  the  numerous 
fictions  of  Poe's  career. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL  I. 


TALES  OF  IMAGINATION. 

FAGS. 

THE  GOLD-BUG 1 

BERENICE 49 

ELEONORA 61 

LIQEIA 69 

MORELLA 91 

METZENGERSTEIN 99 

THE  IMP  OP  THE  PERVERSE Ill 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER 121 

THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM 147 

THE  MASK  OF  THE  RED  DEATH 167 

THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO 177 

MESMERIC  REVELATION 187 

THE  FACTS  IN  THE  CASE  OF  M.  VALDEMAR     .  201 

Ms.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE 215 

A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM 229 

THE  BLACK  CAT 251 

THE  ASSIGNATION 265 

THE  TELL-TALE  HEART  .  281 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 
VOL.  I. 

PAGE. 

THE  GOLD-BUG, 

Photogravure  after  Herpin Frontispiece 

THE  GOLD-BUG, 

Photogravure  after  Ferat 24 

BERENICE, 

Drawn,  and  etched  by  Wogel 49 

LIGEIA, 

Drawn  and  etched  by  Wogel 69 

METZENGERSTEIN, 

Drawn  and  etched  by  Wogel 99 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER, 

Etched  by  E.  Abot  after  Wogel 121 

THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM, 

Photogravure  after  Ferat 147 

THE  FACTS  IN  THE  CASE  OF  M.  VALDEMAR, 

Drawn  and  etched  by  Wogel 201 

Ms.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE, 

Drawn  and  etched  by  Wogel 215 

THE  BLACK  CAT, 

Photogravure  after  Meyer 251 


TALES  OF  IMAGINATION 


TALES  OF  IMAGINATION. 


THE  GOLD-BUG. 

What  ho !  what  ho  f  this  fellow  is  dancing  mad ! 
He  hath  been  bitten  by  the  Tarantula. 

— AU  in  the  Wrong. 

Many  years  ago  I  contracted  an  intimacy  with  a  Mr. 
William  Legrand.  He  was  of  an  ancient  Huguenot 
family  and  had  once  been  wealthy ;  but  a  series  of 
misfortunes  had  reduced  him  to  want.  To  avoid  the 
mortification  consequent  upon  his  disasters,  he  left 
New  Orleans,  the  city  of  his  forefathers,  and  took 
up  his  residence  at  Sullivan's  Island,  near  Charleston, 
South  Carolina. 

This  Island  is  a  very  singular  one.  It  consists  of 
little  else  than  sea  sand,  and  is  about  three  miles 
long.  Its  breadth  at  no  point  exceeds  a  quarter  of  a 
mile.  It  is  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a  scarcely 
perceptible  creek,  oozing  its  way  through  a  wilderness 
of  reeds  and  slime,  a  favorite  resort  of  the  marsh-hen. 
The  vegetation,  as  might  be  supposed,  is  scant,  or  at 
least  dwarfish.  No  trees  of  any  magnitude  are  to  be 
seen.  Near  the  western  extremity,  where  Fort  Moultrie 
stands,  and  where  are  some  miserable  frame  build- 
ings, tenanted,  during  summer,  by  the  fugitives  from 
Charleston  dust  and  fever,  may  be  found,  indeed,  the 

Vol.  I.— L 


2  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

bristly  palmetto ;  but  the  whole  island,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  this  western  point,  and  a  line  of  hard,  white 
beach  on  the  sea-coast,  is  covered  with  a  dense  under- 
growth of  the  sweet  myrtle,  so  much  prized  by  the 
horticulturists  of  England.  The  shrub  here  often 
attains  the  height  of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  and  forms 
an  almost  impenetrable  coppice,  burthening  the  air  with 
its  fragrance. 

In  the  inmost  recesses  of  this  coppice,  not  far  from 
the  eastern  or  more  remote  end  of  the  island,  Legrand 
had  built  himself  a  small  hut,  which  he  occupied  when 
I  first,  by  mere  accident,  made  his  acquaintance.  This 
soon  ripened  into  friendship,  for  there  was  much  in 
the  recluse  to  excite  interest  and  esteem.  I  found  him 
well  educated,  with  unusual  powers  of  mind,  but  in- 
fected with  misanthropy,  and  subject  to  perverse  moods 
of  alternate  enthusiasm  and  melancholy.  He  had  with 
him  many  books,  but  rarely  employed  them.  His  chief 
amusements  were  gunning  and  fishing,  or  sauntering 
along  the  beach  and  through  the  myrtles,  in  quest  of 
shells  or  entomological  specimens; — his  collection  of 
the  latter  might  have  been  envied  by  a  Swammerdamm. 
In  these  excursions  he  was  usually  accompanied  by  an 
old  negro  called  Jupiter,  who  had  been  manumitted 
before  the  reverses  of  the  family,  but  who  could  be  in- 
duced, neither  by  threats  nor  by  promises,  to  abandon 
what  he  considered  his  right  of  attendance  upon  the 
footsteps  of  his  young  "  Massa  Will."  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  relatives  of  Legrand,  conceiving  him 
to  be  somewhat  unsettled  in  intellect,  had  contrived  to 
instill  this  obstinacy  into  Jupiter,  with  a  view  to  the 
supervision  and  guardianship  of  the  wanderer. 

The  winters  in  the  latitude  of  Sullivan's  Island  are 
seldom  very  severe,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  year  it  is  a 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  3 

rare  event  indeed  when  a  fire  is  considered  necessary. 
About  the  middle  of  October,  18 — ,  there  occurred, 
however,  a  day  of  remarkable  chilliness.  Just  before 
sunset  I  scrambled  my  way  through  the  evergreens  to 
the  hut  of  my  friend,  whom  I  had  not  visited  for  several 
weeks — my  residence  being  at  that  time  in  Charleston, 
a  distance  of  nine  miles  from  the  island,  while  the 
facilities  of  passage  and  re-passage  were  very  far  behind 
those  of  the  present  day.  Upon  reaching  the  hut  I 
rapped,  as  was  my  custom,  and  getting  no  reply,  sought 
for  the  key  where  I  knew  it  was  secreted,  unlocked  the 
door  and  went  in.  A  fine  fire  was  blazing  upon  the 
hearth.  It  was  a  novelty  and  by  no  means  an  un- 
grateful one.  I  threw  off  an  overcoat  and  took  an  arm- 
chair by  the  crackling  logs  and  awaited  patiently  the 
arrival  of  my  hosts. 

Soon  after  dark  they  arrived  and  gave  me  a  most 
cordial  welcome.  Jupiter,  grinning  from  ear  to  ear, 
bustled  about  to  prepare  some  marsh-hens  for  supper. 
Legrand  was  in  one  of  his  fits — how  else  shall  I  term 
them? — of  enthusiasm.  He  had  found  an  unknown 
bivalve,  forming  a  new  genus,  and,  more  than  this,  he 
had  hunted  down  and  secured,  with  Jupiter's  assist- 
ance, a  scarabtziLS  which  he  believed  to  be  totally  new, 
but  in  respect  to  which  he  wished  to  have  my  opinion 
on  the  morrow. 

"And  why  not  to-night?"  I  asked,  rubbing  my 
hands  over  the  blaze,  and  wishing  the  whole  tribe  of 
scarabcei  at  the  devil. 

"Ah,  if  I  had  only  known  you  were  here!"  said 
Legrand,  "  but  it's  so  long  since  I  saw  you ;  and  how 
could  I  foresee  that  you  would  pay  me  a  visit  this  very 
night  of  all  others?  As  I  was  coming  home  I  met 
Lieutenant  G ,  from  the  fort  and  very  foolishly 


4  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

I  lent  him  the  bug ;  so  it  will  be  impossible  for  you  to 
see  it  until  the  morning.  Stay  here  to-night,  and  I 
will  send  Jup  down  for  it  at  sunrise.  It  is  the  loveliest 
thing  in  creation  I " 

"  What !— sunrise ! " 

"  Nonsense !  no ! — the  bug.  It  is  of  a  brilliant  gold 
color — about  the  size  of  a  large  hickory-nut — with 
two  jet  black  spots  near  one  extremity  of  the  back, 
and  another,  somewhat,  longer,  at  the  other.  The 
antennce  are  " 

"Dey  ain't  no  tin  in  him,  Massa  Will,  I  keep  a 
tellin  on  you,"  here  interrupted  Jupiter;  "de  bug  is 
a  goole  bug,  solid,  ebery  bit  of  him,  inside  and  all,  sep 
him  wing — neber  feel  half  so  hebby  a  bug  in  my  life." 

"Well,  suppose  it  is,  Jup,"  replied  Legrand,  some- 
what more  earnestly,  it  seemed  to  me,  than  the  case 
demanded,  "is  that  any  reason  for  your  letting  the 
birds  burn?  The  color" — here  he  turned  to  me — • 
"  is  really  almost  enough  to  warrant  Jupiter's  idea. 
You  never  saw  a  more  brilliant  metallic  lustre  than 
the  scales  emit — but  of  this  you  cannot  judge  till  to- 
morrow. In  the  meantime  I  can  give  you  some  idea 
of  the  shape."  Saying  this,  he  seated  himself  at  a 
small  table,  on  which  were  a  pen  and  ink,  but  no 
paper.  He  looked  for  some  in  a  drawer,  but  found 
none. 

"Never  mind,"  said  he  at  length,  "this  will 
answer ; "  and  he  drew  from  his  waistcoat  pocket  a 
scrap  of  what  I  took  to  be  very  dirty  foolscap,  and 
made  upon  it  a  rough  drawing  with  the  pen.  While 
he  did  this  I  retained  my  seat  by  the  fire,  for  I  was 
still  chilly.  When  the  design  was  complete,  he  handed 
it  to  me  without  rising.  As  I  received  it,  a  loud  growl 
was  heard,  succeeded  by  a  scratching  at  the  door. 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  5 

Jupiter  opened  it,  and  a  large  Newfoundland,  belong- 
ing to  Legrand,  rushed  in,  leaped  upon  my  shoulders, 
and  loaded  me  with  caresses ;  for  I  had  shown  him 
much  attention  during  previous  visits.  When  his 
gambols  were  over,  I  looked  at  the  paper,  and,  to  speak 
the  truth,  found  myself  not  a  little  puzzled  at  what  my 
friend  had  depicted. 

"  Well ! "  I  said,  after  contemplating  it  for  some  min- 
utes, "  this  is  a  strange  scarabceus,  I  must  confess :  new  to 
me :  never  saw  anything  like  it  before — unless  it  was  a 
skull,  or  a  death's-head — which  it  more  nearly  resembles 
than  anything  else  that  has  come  under  my  observation." 

"  A  death's-head  !  "  echoed  Legrand — "  Oh — yes — 
well,  it  has  something  of  that  appearance  upon  paper, 
no  doubt.  The  two  upper  black  spots  look  like  eyes, 
eh  ?  and  the  longer  one  at  the  bottom  like  a  mouth — 
and  then  the  shape  of  the  whole  is  oval." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  said  I ;  "  but,  Legrand,  I  fear  you  are 
no  artist.  I  must  wait  until  I  see  the  beetle  itself,  if  I 
am  to  form  any  idea  of  its  personal  appearance." 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  he,  a  little  nettled,  "I 
draw  tolerably — should  do  it,  at  least — have  had  good 
masters,  and  flatter  myself  that  I  am  not  quite  a  block- 
head." 

"  But,  my  dear  fellow,  you  are  joking  then,"  said  I ; 
"  this  is  a  very  passable  skull — indeed,  I  may  say  that  it 
is  a  very  excellent  skull,  according  to  the  vulgar  notions 
about  such  specimens  of  physiology — and  your  scara- 
bceus must  be  the  queerest  scarabceus  in  the  world  if  it 
resemble  it.  Why,  we  may  get  up  a  very  thrilling  bit 
of  superstition  upon  this  hint.  I  presume  you  will  call 
the  bug  scarabceus  caput  hominis,  or  something  of  that 
kind — there  are  many  similar  titles  in  the  Natural  His- 
tories. But  where  are  the  antennce  you  spoke  of?  " 


6  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

"The  antenna!"  said  Legrand,  who  seemed  to  be 
getting  unaccountably  warm  upon  the  subject ;  "  I  am 
sure  you  must  see  the  antennas.  I  made  them  as  distinct 
as  they  are  in  the  original  insect,  and  I  presume  that  is 
sufficient." 

"  Well,  well,"  I  said,  "  perhaps  you  have — still  I 
don't  see  them ; "  and  I  handed  him  the  paper  without 
additional  remark,  not  wishing  to  ruffle  his  temper ;  but 
I  was  much  surprised  at  the  turn  affairs  had  taken ;  his 
ill-humor  puzzled  me — and,  as  for  the  drawing  of  the 
beetle,  there  were  positively  no  antennce  visible,  and  the 
whole  did  bear  a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  ordinary 
cuts  of  a  death's-head. 

He  received  the  paper  very  peevishly,  and  was  about 
to  crumple  it,  apparently  to  throw  it  in  the  fire,  when  a 
casual  glance  at  the  design  seemed  suddenly  to  rivet  his 
attention.  In  an  instant  his  face  grew  violently  red — in 
another  as  excessively  pale.  For  some  minutes  he 
continued  to  scrutinize  the  drawing  minutely  where  he 
sat.  At  length  he  arose,  took  a  candle  from  the  table, 
and  proceeded  to  seat  himself  upon  a  sea-chest  in  the 
farthest  corner  of  the  room.  Here  again  he  made 
an  anxious  examination  of  the  paper;  turning  it  in 
all  directions.  He  said  nothing,  however,  and  his 
conduct  greatly  astonished  me ;  yet  I  thought  it 
prudent  not  to  exacerbate  the  growing  moodiness  of 
his  temper  by  any  comment.  Presently  he  took  from 
his  coat  pocket  a  wallet,  placed  the  paper  carefully  in 
it,  and  deposited  both  in  a  writing-desk,  which  he 
locked.  He  now  grew  more  composed  in  his  de- 
meanor ;  but  his  original  air  of  enthusiasm  had  quite 
disappeared.  Yet  he  seemed  not  so  much  sulky  as 
abstracted.  As  the  evening  wore  away  he  became 
more  and  more  absorbed  in  reverie,  from  which  no 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  7 

sallies  of  mine  could  arouse  him.  It  had  been  my 
intention  to  pass  the  night  at  the  hut,  as  I  had  fre- 
quently done  before,  but  seeing  my  host  in  this  mood, 
I  deemed  it  proper  to  take  leave.  He  did  not  press 
me  to  remain,  but,  as  I  departed,  he  shook  my  hand 
with  even  more  than  his  usual  cordiality. 

It  was  about  a  month  after  this  (and  during  the 
interval  I  had  seen  nothing  of  Legrand)  when  I  re- 
ceived a  visit,  at  Charleston,  from  his  man,  Jupiter. 
I  had  never  seen  the  good  old  negro  look  so  dispirited, 
and  I  feared  that  some  serious  disaster  had  befallen  my 
friend. 

"  Well,  Jup,"  said  I,  "  what  is  the  matter  now  ? — how 
is  your  master  ?  " 

"  Why,  to  speak  de  troof,  massa,  him  not  so  berry  well 
as  mought  be." 

"  Not  well !  I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear  it.  What  does 
he  complain  of?  " 

"Dar!  dat's  it! — him  nebber  plain  of  notin — but 
him  berry  sick  for  all  dat." 

"  Very  sick,  Jupiter! — why  didn't  you  say  so  at 
once  ?  Is  he  confined  to  bed  ?  " 

"  No,  dat  he  aint ! — he  aint  find  nowhar — dat's  just 
whar  de  shoe  pinch — my  mind  is  got  to  be  berry  hebby 
bout  poor  Massa  Will." 

"  Jupiter,  I  should  like  to  understand  what  it  is  you 
are  talking  about.  You  say  your  master  is  sick.  Hasn't 
he  told  you  what  ails  him  ?  " 

"  Why,  massa,  taint  worf  while  for  to  git  mad  about 
de  matter — Massa  Will  say  noffin  at  all  aint  de  matter 
wid  him — but  den  what  make  him  go  about  looking 
dis  here  way,  wid  he  head  down  and  he  soldiers  up,  and 
as  white  as  a  gose  ?  And  den  he  keep  a  syphon  all  de 
time  " 


8  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

"  Keeps  a  what,  Jupiter  ?  " 

"Keeps  a  syphon  wid  de  figgurs  on  de  slate — de 
queerest  figgurs  I  ebber  did  see.  Ise  gittin  to  be 
steered,  I  tell  you.  Hab  for  to  keep  mighty  tight  eye 
pon  him  noovers.  Todder  day  he  gib  me  slip  fore  de 
sun  up,  and  was  gone  de  whole  ob  de  blessed  day.  I 
had  a  big  stick  ready  cut  for  to  gib  him  deuced  good 
beating  when  he  did  come — But  Ise  sich  a  fool  dat  I 
hadn't  de  heart  arter  all — he  look  so  berry  poorly." 

"  Eh  ? — what  ? — ah  yes !  upon  the  whole  I  think 
you  had  better  not  be  too  severe  with  the  poor  fellow 
— don't  flog  him,  Jupiter — he  can't  very  well  stand  it 
— but  can  you  form  no  idea  of  what  has  occasioned  this 
illness,  or  rather  this  change  of  conduct  ?  Has  anything 
unpleasant  happened  since  I  saw  you  ?  " 

"  No,  massa,  dey  aint  bin  nuffin  unpleasant  since  den 
— 'twas  fore  den,  I'm  feared — 'twas  de  berry  day  you 
was  dare." 

"  How  ?  what  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  massa,  I  mean  de  bug — dare  now." 

"  The  what  ?  " 

"  De  bug — I'm  berry  sartain  dat  Massa  Will  bin  bit 
somewhere  bout  de  head  by  dat  goole-bug." 

"  And  what  cause  have  you,  Jupiter,  for  such  a  sup- 
position ?  " 

"  Claws  enuff,  massa,  and  moufF  too.  I  nebber  did 
see  sich  a  deuced  bug — he  kick  and  he  bite  ebery  ting 
what  cum  near  him.  Massa  Will  cotch  him  fuss,  but 
had  for  to  let  him  go  gin  mighty  quick,  I  tell  you — 
den  was  de  time  he  must  ha  got  de  bite.  I  didn't  like 
de  look  ob  de  bug  mouff,  myself,  no  how,  so  I  wouldn't 
take  hold  ob  him  wid  my  finger,  but  I  cotch  him  wid  a 
piece  ob  paper  dat  I  found.  I  rap  him  up  in  de  paper 
and  stuff  piece  ob  it  in  he  mouff— dat  was  de  way." 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  9 

"And  you  think,  then,  that  your  master  was  really 
bitten  by  the  beetle,  and  that  the  bite  made  him  sick  ?  " 

"  I  don't  tink  noffin  about  it — I  nose  it.  What  make 
him  dream  bout  de  goole  so  much,  if  taint  cause  he  bit 
by  de  goole-bug  ?  Ise  heerd  bout  dem  goole-bugs  fore 
dis." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  he  dreams  about  gold  ?  " 

"How  I  know?  why,  cause  he  talk  about  it  in  he 
sleep — dat's  how  I  nose." 

"  Well,  Jup,  perhaps  you  are  right ;  but  to  what  for- 
tunate circumstance  am  I  to  attribute  the  honor  of  a 
visit  from  you  to-day  ?  " 

"  What  de  matter,  massa  ?  " 

"  Did  you  bring  any  message  from  Mr.  Legrand  ?  " 

"  No,  massa,  I  bring  dis  here  pissel ;  "  and  here  Jupiter 
handed  me  a  note  which  ran  thus  : 

"  MY  DEAR , — Why  have  I  not  seen  you  for  so 

long  a  time  ?  I  hope  you  have  not  been  so  foolish  as  to 
take  offence  at  any  little  brusquerie  of  mine ;  but  no, 
that  is  improbable. 

"  Since  I  saw  you  I  have  had  great  cause  for  anxiety. 
I  have  something  to  tell  you,  yet  scarcely  know  how  to 
tell  it,  or  whether  I  should  tell  it  at  all. 

"I  have  not  been  quite  well  for  some  days  past, 
and  poor  old  Jup  annoys  me,  almost  beyond  endurance, 
by  his  well-meant  attentions.  Would  you  believe 
it? — he  had  prepared  a  huge  stick,  the  other  day, 
with  which  to  chastise  me  for  giving  him  the  slip,  and 
spending  the  day,  solus,  among  the  hills  on  the  main- 
land. I  verily  believe  that  my  ill  looks  alone  saved  me 
a  flogging. 

"  I  have  made  no  addition  to  my  cabinet  since  we 
met. 


10  THE  GOLD-BUQ. 

"  If  you  can,  in  any  way,  make  it  convenient,  come 
over  with  Jupiter.  Do  come.  I  wish  to  see  you  to-night, 
upon  business  of  importance.  I  assure  you  that  it  is  of 
the  highest  importance. — Ever  yours, 

"WILLIAM  LEGRAND." 

There  was  something  in  the  tone  of  this  note  which 
gave  me  great  uneasiness.  Its  whole  style  differed 
materially  from  that  of  Legrand.  What  could  he  be 
dreaming  of?  What  new  crotchet  possessed  his  excit- 
able brain?  What  "business  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance" could  he  possibly  have  to  transact?  Jupiter's 
account  of  him  boded  no  good.  I  dreaded  lest  the 
continued  pressure  of  misfortune  had,  at  length,  fairly 
unsettled  the  reason  of  my  friend.  Without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  therefore,  I  prepared  to  accompany  the 
negro. 

Upon  reaching  the  wharf,  I  noticed  a  scythe  and 
three  spades,  all  apparently  new,  lying  in  the  bottom  of 
the  boat  in  which  we  were  to  embark. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this,  Jup  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Him  syfe,  massa,  and  spade." 

"  Very  true ;  but  what  are  they  doing  here  ?  " 

"  Him  de  syfe  and  de  spade  what  Massa  Will  sis  pon 
my  buying  for  him  in  de  town,  and  de  debbil's  own  lot 
of  money  I  had  to  gib  for  em." 

"  But  what,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  mysterious, 
is  your  'Massa  Will'  going  to  do  with  scythes  and 
spades  ? " 

"  Dat's  more  dan  J  know,  and  debbil  take  me  if  I 
don't  blieve  'tis  more  dan  he  know  too.  But  it's  all 
cum  ob  de  bug." 

Finding  that  no  satisfaction  was  to  be  obtained  of 
Jupiter,  whose  whole  intellect  seemed  to  be  absorbed 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  11 

by  "  de  bug,"  I  now  stepped  into  the  boat  and  made 
sail.  With  a  fair  and  strong  breeze  we  soon  ran  into 
the  little  cove  to  the  northward  of  Fort  Moultrie,  and 
a  walk  of  some  two  miles  brought  us  to  the  hut.  It 
was  about  three  in  the  afternoon  when  we  arrived. 
Legrand  had  been  awaiting  us  in  eager  expectation. 
He  grasped  my  hand  with  a  nervous  empressement 
which  alarmed  me  and  strengthened  the  suspicions 
already  entertained.  His  countenance  was  pale  even 
to  ghastliness,  and  his  deep-set  eyes  glared  with  un- 
natural lustre.  After  some  inquiries  respecting  his 
health,  I  asked  him,  not  knowing  what  better  to  say, 
if  he  had  yet  obtained  the  scarabceus  from  Lieutenant 
G . 

"  Oh,  yes,"  he  replied,  coloring  violently,  "  I  got  it 
from  him  the  next  morning.  Nothing  should  tempt  me 
to  part  with  that  scarabceus.  Do  you  know  that  Jupiter 
is  quite  right  about  it  ?  " 

"  In  what  way  ?  "  I  asked,  with  a  sad  foreboding  at 
heart. 

"  In  supposing  it  to  be  a  bug  of  real  gold."  He  said 
this  with  an  air  of  profound  seriousness,  and  I  felt  in- 
expressibly shocked. 

"This  bug  is  to  make  my  fortune,"  he  continued, 
with  a  triumphant  smile,  "  to  reinstate  me  in  my  family 
possessions.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  I  prize  it? 
Since  Fortune  has  thought  fit  to  bestow  it  upon  me,  I 
have  only  to  use  it  properly  and  I  shall  arrive  at  the 
gold  of  which  it  is  the  index.  Jupiter,  bring  me  that 
scarabceus  !  " 

"What!  de  bug,  massa?  I'd  rudder  not  go  fer 
trubble  dat  bug — you  mus  git  him  for  you  own  self." 
Hereupon  Legrand  arose,  with  a  grave  and  stately  air, 
and  brought  me  the  beetle  from  a  glass  case  in  which 


12  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

it  was  enclosed.  It  was  a  beautiful  scarabceus,  and,  at 
that  time,  unknown  to  naturalists — of  course  a  great 
prize  in  a  scientific  point  of  view.  There  were  two 
round  black  spots  near  one  extremity  of  the  back,  and 
a  long  one  near  the  other.  The  scales  were  exceedingly 
hard  and  glossy,  with  all  the  appearance  of  burnished 
gold.  The  weight  of  the  insect  was  very  remarkable, 
and,  taking  all  things  into  consideration,  I  could 
hardly  blame  Jupiter  for  his  opinion  respecting  it; 
but  what  to  make  of  Legrand's  concordance  with  that 
opinio-n,  I  could  not,  for  the  life  of  me,  tell. 

"I  sent  for  you,"  said  he  in  a  grandiloquent  tone, 
when  I  had  completed  my  examination  of  the  beetle, 
"  I  sent  for  you,  that  I  might  have  your  counsel  and 
assistance  in  furthering  the  views  of  Fate  and  of  the 
bug" 

"  My  dear  Legrand,"  I  cried,  interrupting  him,  "  you 
are  certainly  unwell,  and  had  better  use  some  little  pre- 
cautions. You  shall  go  to  bed,  and  I  will  remain  with 
you  a  few  days,  until  you  get  over  this.  You  are 
feverish  and  " 

"  Feel  my  pulse,"  said  he. 

I  felt  it,  and,  to  say  the  truth,  found  not  the  slightest 
indication  of  fever. 

"  But  you  may  be  ill  and  yet  have  no  fever.  Allow 
me  this  once  to  prescribe  for  you.  In  the  first  place,  go 
to  bed.  In  the  next " 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  he  interposed  ;  "  I  am  as  well 
as  I  can  expect  to  be  under  the  excitement  which  I 
suffer.  If  you  really  wish  me  well,  you  will  relieve  this 
excitement." 

"And  how  is  this  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Very  easily.  Jupiter  and  myself  are  going  upon 
an  expedition  into  the  hills,  upon  the  mainland,  and, 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  13 

in  this  expedition,  we  shall  need  the  aid  of  some  person 
in  whom  we  can  confide.  You  are  the  only  one  we  can 
trust.  Whether  we  succeed  or  fail,  the  excitement  which 
you  now  perceive  in  me  will  be  equally  allayed." 

"  I  am  anxious  to  oblige  you  in  any  way,"  I  replied ; 
"  but  do  you  mean  to  say  that  this  infernal  beetle  has 
any  connection  with  your  expedition  into  the  hills  ?  " 

"  It  has." 

"Then,  Legrand,  I  can  become  a  party  to  no  such 
absurd  proceeding." 

"  I  am  sorry — very  sorry — for  we  shall  have  to  try  it 
by  ourselves." 

"  Try  it  by  yourselves !  The  man  is  surely  mad ! — 
but  stay ! — how  long  do  you  propose  to  be  absent  ?  " 

"  Probably  all  night.  We  shall  start  immediately, 
and  be  back,  at  all  events,  by  sunrise." 

"And  will  you  promise  me,  upon  your  honor,  that 
when  this  freak  of  yours  is  over,  and  the  bug  business 
(good  God !)  settled  to  your  satisfaction,  you  will  then 
return  home  and  follow  my  advice  implicitly,  as  that  of 
your  physician?" 

"  Yes,  I  promise ;  and  now  let  us  be  off,  for  we  have 
no  time  to  lose." 

With  a  heavy  heart  I  accompanied  my  friend.  We 
started  about  four  o'clock — Legrand,  Jupiter,  the  dog, 
and  myself.  Jupiter  had  with  him  the  scythe  and 
spades — the  whole  of  which  he  insisted  upon  carrying 
— more  through  fear,  it  seemed  to  me,  of  trusting 
either  of  the  implements  within  reach  of  his  master, 
than  from  any  excess  of  industry  or  complaisance. 
His  demeanor  was  dogged  in  the  extreme,  and  "dat 
deuced  bug"  were  the  sole  words  which  escaped  his 
lips  during  the  journey.  For  my  own  part,  I  had 
charge  of  a  couple  of  dark  lanterns,  while  Legrand 


14  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

contented  himself  with  the  scarabceus,  which  he  carried 
attached  to  the  end  of  a  bit  of  whip-cord ;  twirling  it 
to  and  fro,  with  the  air  of  a  conjurer,  as  he  went. 
When  I  observed  this  last  plain  evidence  of  my  friend's 
aberration  of  mind,  I  could  scarcely  refrain  from  tears. 
I  thought  it  best,  however,  to  humor  his  fancy,  at 
least  for  the  present,  or  until  I  could  adopt  some  more 
energetic  measures  with  a  chance  of  success.  In  the 
meantime  I  endeavored,  but  all  in  vain,  to  sound  him 
in  regard  to  the  object  of  the  expedition.  Having  suc- 
ceeded in  inducing  me  to  accompany  him,  he  seemed 
unwilling  to  hold  conversation  upon  any  topic  of 
minor  importance,  and  to  all  my  questions  vouchsafed 
no  other  reply  than  "  We  shall  see ! " 

We  crossed  the  creek  at  the  head  of  the  island  by 
means  of  a  skiff,  and,  ascending  the  high  grounds  on 
the  shore  of  the  mainland,  proceeded  in  a  north- 
westerly direction,  through  a  tract  of  country  exces- 
sively wild  and  desolate,  where  no  trace  of  a  human 
footstep  was  to  be  seen.  Legrand  led  the  way  with 
decision;  pausing  only  for  an  instant,  here  and  there, 
to  consult  what  appeared  to  be  certain  landmarks  of 
his  own  contrivance  upon  a  former  occasion. 

In  this  manner  we  journeyed  for  about  two  hours, 
and  the  sun  was  just  setting  when  we  entered  a  region 
infinitely  more  dreary  than  any  yet  seen.  It  was  a 
species  of  tableland,  near  the  summit  of  an  almost 
inaccessible  hill,  densely  wooded  from  base  to  pinnacle, 
and  interspersed  with  huge  crags  that  appeared  to  lie 
loosely  upon  the  soil,  and  in  many  cases  were  prevented 
from  precipitating  themselves  into  the  valleys  below, 
merely  by  the  support  of  the  trees  against  which  they 
reclined.  Deep  ravines,  in  various  directions,  gave  an 
air  of  still  sterner  solemnity  to  the  scene. 


THE   GOLD-BUG.  15 

The  natural  platform  to  which  we  had  clambered 
was  thickly  overgrown  with  brambles,  through  which 
we  soon  discovered  that  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  force  our  way  but  for  the  scythe ;  and  Jupiter,  by 
direction  of  his  master,  proceeded  to  clear  for  us  a 
path  to  the  foot  of  an  enormously  tall  tulip-tree,  which 
stood,  with  some  eight  or  ten  oaks,  upon  the  level,  and 
far  surpassed  them  all,  and  all  other  trees  which  I  had 
then  ever  seen,  in  the  beauty  of  its  foliage  and  form, 
in  the  wide  spread  of  its  branches,  and  in  the  general 
majesty  of  its  appearance.  When  we  reached  this 
tree,  Legrand  turned  to  Jupiter,  and  asked  him  if  he 
thought  he  could  climb  it.  The  old  man  seemed  a 
little  staggered  by  the  question,  and  for  some  moments 
made  no  reply.  At  length  he  approached  the  huge 
trunk,  walked  slowly  around  it,  and  examined  it  with 
minute  attention.  When  he  had  completed  his  scrutiny, 
he  merely  said — 

"  Yes,  massa,  0up  climb  any  tree  he  ebber  see  in  he 
life." 

"  Then  up  with  you  as  soon  as  possible,  for  it  will  soon 
be  too  dark  to  see  what  we  are  about." 

"  How  far  mus  go  up,  massa  ?  "  inquired  Jupiter. 

"  Get  up  the  main  trunk  first,  and  then  I  will  tell 
you  which  way  to  go — and  here — stop !  take  this  beetle 
with  you." 

"De  bug,  Massa  Will! — de  goole-bug!"  cried  the 
negro,  drawing  back  in  dismay — "  what  for  mus  tote  de 
bug  way  up  de  tree  ? — d n  if  I  do ! " 

"  If  you  are  afraid,  Jup,  a  great  big  negro  like  you,  to 
take  hold  of  a  harmless  little  dead  beetle,  why  you  can 
carry  it  up  by  this  string — but  if  you  do  not  take  it  up 
with  you  in  some  way,  I  shall  be  under  the  necessity  of 
breaking  your  head  with  this  shovel." 


16  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

"  What  de  matter  now,  massa  ?  "  said  Jup,  evidently 
shamed  into  compliance;  "always  want  for  to  raise 
fus  wid  old  nigger.  Was  only  funnin  anyhow.  Me 
feered  de  bug!  what  I  keer  for  de  bug?"  Here  he 
took  cautiously  hold  of  the  extreme  end  of  the  string, 
and,  maintaining  the  insect  as  far  from  his  person  as 
circumstances  would  permit,  prepared  to  ascend  the 
tree. 

In  youth,  the  tulip-tree,  or  Liriodendron  tulipiferum, 
the  most  magnificent  of  American  foresters,  has  a  trunk 
peculiarly  smooth,  and  often  rises  to  a  great  height 
without  lateral  branches;  but  in  its  riper  age,  the 
bark  becomes  gnarled  and  uneven,  while  many  short 
limbs  make  their  appearance  on  the  stem.  Thus  the 
difficulty  of  ascension,  in  the  present  case,  lay  more  in 
semblance  than  in  reality.  Embracing  the  huge 
cylinder,  as  closely  as  possible,  with  his  arms  and 
knees,  seizing  with  his  hands  some  projections,  and 
resting  his  naked  toes  upon  others,  Jupiter,  after  one 
or  two  narrow  escapes  from  falling,  at  length  wriggled 
himself  into  the  first  great  fork,  and  seemed  to  consider 
the  whole  business  as  virtually  accomplished.  The 
risk  of  the  achievement  was,  in  fact,  now  over,  although 
the  climber  was  some  sixty  or  seventy  feet  from  the 
ground. 

"  Which  way  mus  go  now,  Massa  Will  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Keep  up  the  largest  branch — the  one  on  this  side," 
said  Legrand.  The  negro  obeyed  him  promptly,  and 
apparently  with  but  little  trouble ;  ascending  higher  and 
higher,  until  no  glimpse  of  his  squat  figure  could  be 
obtained  through  the  dense  foliage  which  enveloped  it. 
Presently  his  voice  was  heard  in  a  sort  of  halloo. 

"  How  much  fudder  is  got  for  go  ?  " 

"  How  high  up  are  you  ?  "  asked  Legrand. 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  17 

"  Ebber  so  fur,"  replied  the  negro ;  "  can  see  de  sky 
fru  do  top  ob  de  tree." 

"Never  mind  the  sky,  but  attend  to  what  I  say. 
Look  down  the  trunk  and  count  the  limbs  below  you  on 
this  side.  How  many  limbs  have  you  passed  ?  " 

"One,  two,  tree,  four,  fibe — I  done  pass  fibe  big 
limb,  massa,  pon  dis  side." 

"  Then  go  one  limb  higher." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  voice  was  heard  again,  announc- 
ing that  the  seventh  limb  was  attained. 

"  Now,  Jup,"  cried  Legrand,  evidently  much  excited, 
"  I  want  you  to  work  your  way  out  upon  that  limb  as  far 
as  you  can.  If  you  see  anything  strange,  let  me  know." 

By  this  time  what  little  doubt  I  might  have  enter- 
tained of  my  poor  friend's  insanity  was  put  finally  at 
rest.  I  had  no  alternative  but  to  conclude  him 
stricken  with  lunacy,  and  I  became  seriously  anxious 
about  getting  him  home.  While  I  was  pondering 
upon  what  was  best  to  be  done,  Jupiter's  voice  was 
again  heard. 

"  Mos  feerd  for  to  ventur  pon  dis  limb  berry  far — tis 
dead  limb  putty  much  all  de  way." 

"  Did  you  say  it  was  a  dead  limb,  Jupiter  ?  "  cried 
Legrand  in  a  quavering  voice. 

"  Yes,  massa,  him  dead  as  de  door-nail — done  up  for 
sartain — done  departed  dis  here  life." 

"  What  in  the  name  of  heaven  shall  I  do  ? "  asked 
Legrand,  seemingly  in  the  greatest  distress. 

"  Do ! "  said  I,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  interpose  a 
word,  "  why  come  home  and  go  to  bed.  Come  now ! — 
that's  a  fine  fellow.  It's  getting  late,  and,  besides,  you 
remember  your  promise." 

"  Jupiter,"  cried  he,  without  heeding  me  in  the  least, 
"  do  you  hear  me  ?  " 
Vol.  I.-2. 


18  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

"Yes,  Massa  Will,  hear  you  ebber  so  plain." 

"  Try  the  wood  well,  then,  with  your  knife,  and  see  if 
you  think  it  very  rotten." 

"  Him  rotten,  massa,  sure  nuff,"  replied  the  negro  in 
a  few  moments,  "  but  not  so  berry  rotten  as  mought  be. 
Mought  ventur  out  leetle  way  pon  de  limb  by  myself, 
dat's  true." 

"  By  yourself! — What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  mean  de  bug.  'Tis  berry  hebby  bug.  Spose 
I  drop  him  down  fuss,  and  den  de  limb  won't  break  wid 
just  de  weight  ob  one  nigger." 

"  You  infernal  scoundrel ! "  cried  Legrand,  appar- 
ently much  relieved,  "  what  do  you  mean  by  telling  me 
such  nonsense  as  that?  As  sure  as  you  drop  that 
beetle  I'll  break  your  neck.  Look  here,  Jupiter,  do 
you  hear  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,  massa,  needn't  hollo  at  poor  nigger  dat  style." 

"  Well !  now  listen ! — If  you  will  venture  out  on  the 
limb  as  far  as  you  think  safe,  and  not  let  go  the  beetle, 
I'll  make  you  a  present  of  a  silver  dollar  as  soon  as  you 
get  down." 

"I'm  gwine,  Massa  Will — deed  I  is,"  replied  the 
negro  very  promptly — "  mos  out  to  the  eend  now." 

"  Out  to  the  end ! "  here  fairly  screamed  Legrand, 
"  do  you  say  you  are  out  to  the  end  of  that  limb  ?  " 

"Soon  be  to  de  eend,  massa, — o-o-o-o-oh!  Lor-gol-a 
marcy !  what  is  dis  here  pon  de  tree  ?  " 

"  Well,"  cried  Legrand,  highly  delighted,  "  what  is 
it?" 

"  Why,  taint  noffin  but  a  skull — somebody  bin  lef  him 
head  up  de  tree,  and  de  crows  done  gobble  ebery  bit  ob 
de  meat  off." 

"A  skull,  you  say ! — very  well ! — how  is  it  fastened 
to  the  limb?— what  holds  it  on?" 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  19 

"  Sure  nuff,  massa ;  mus  look.  Why  dis  berry  curous 
sarcumstance,  pon  my  word — dare's  a  great  big  nail  in 
de  skull,  what  fastens  ob  it  on  to  de  tree." 

"Well  now,  Jupiter,  do  exactly  as  I  tell  you — do 
you  hear  ?  " 

"Yes,  massa." 

"Pay  attention,  then! — find  the  left  eye  of  the 
skull." 

"  Hum !  hoo !  dat's  good !  why  dare  aint  no  eye  lef 
at  all." 

"  Curse  your  stupidity !  do  you  know  your  right 
hand  from  your  left  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  nose  dat — nose  all  bout  dat — tis  my  lef  hand 
what  I  chops  de  wood  wid." 

"  To  be  sure !  you  are  left-handed ;  and  your  left 
eye  is  on  the  same  side  as  your  left  hand.  Now,  I 
suppose,  you  can  find  the  left  eye  of  the  skull,  or  the 
place  where  the  left  eye  has  been.  Have  you  found 
it?" 

Here  was  a  long  pause.    At  length  the  negro  asked, 

"  Is  de  lef  eye  of  de  skull  pon  de  same  side  as  de  lef 
hand  of  de  skull,  too  ? — cause  de  skull  aint  got  not  a 
bit  ob  a  hand  at  all — nebber  mind !  I  got  de  lef  eye 
now — here  de  lef  eye !  what  mus  do  wid  it  ?  " 

"  Let  the  beetle  drop  through  it,  as  far  as  the  string 
will  reach — but  be  careful  and  not  let  go  your  hold  of 
the  string." 

"All  dat  done,  Massa  Will;  mighty  easy  ting  for 
to  put  de  bug  fru  de  hole — look  out  for  him  dare 
below ! " 

During  this  colloquy  no  portion  of  Jupiter's  person 
could  be  seen ;  but  the  beetle,  which  he  had  suffered  to 
descend,  was  now  visible  at  the  end  of  the  string,  and 
glistened,  like  a  globe  of  burnished  gold,  in  the  last 


20  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

rays  of  the  setting  sun,  some  of  which  still  faintly 
illumined  the  eminence  upon  which  we  stood.  The 
scarabceus  hung  quite  clear  of  any  branches,  and,  if 
allowed  to  fall,  would  have  fallen  at  our  feet.  Legrand 
immediately  took  the  scythe,  and  cleared  with  it  a  cir- 
cular space,  three  or  four  yards  in  diameter,  just  be- 
neath the  insect,  and,  having  accomplished  this,  ordered 
Jupiter  to  let  go  the  string  and  come  down  from  the 
tree. 

Driving  a  peg,  with  great  nicety  into  the  ground, 
at  the  precise  spot  where  the  beetle  fell,  my  friend  now 
produced  from  his  pocket  a  tape-measure.  Fastening 
one  end  of  this  at  that  point  of  the  trunk  of  the  tree 
which  was  nearest  the  peg,  he  unrolled  it  till  it  reached 
the  peg,  and  thence  farther  unrolled  it,  in  the  direction 
already  established  by  the  two  points  of  the  tree  and 
the  peg,  for  the  distance  of  fifty  feet — Jupiter  clearing 
away  the  brambles  with  the  scythe.  At  the  spot  thus 
attained  a  second  peg  was  driven,  and  about  this,  as  a 
centre,  a  rude  circle,  about  four  feet  in  diameter,  de- 
scribed. Taking  now  a  spade  himself,  and  giving  one 
to  Jupiter  and  one  to  me,  Legrand  begged  us  to  set 
about  digging  as  quickly  as  possible. 

To  speak  the  truth,  I  had  no  especial  relish  for 
such  amusement  at  any  time,  and,  at  that  particular 
moment,  would  most  willingly  have  declined  it;  for 
the  night  was  coming  on,  and  I  felt  much  fatigued  with 
the  exercise  already  taken ;  but  I  saw  no  mode  of 
escape,  and  was  fearful  of  disturbing  my  poor  friend's 
equanimity  by  a  refusal.  Could  I  have  depended, 
indeed,  upon  Jupiter's  aid,  I  would  have  had  no 
hesitation  in  attempting  to  get  the  lunatic  home  by 
force;  but  I  was  too  well  assured  of  the  old  negro's 
disposition,  to  hope  that  he  would  assist  me,  under  any 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  21 

circumstances,  in  a  personal  contest  with  his  master. 
I  made  no  doubt  that  the  latter  had  been  infected  with 
some  of  the  innumerable  Southern  superstitions  about 
money  buried,  and  that  his  fantasy  had  received  con- 
firmation by  the  finding  of  the  scarabceus,  or,  perhaps 
by  Jupiter's  obstinacy  in  maintaining  it  to  be  "  a  bug  of 
real  gold."  A  mind  disposed  to  lunacy  would  readily 
be  led  away  by  such  suggestions — especially  if  chiming 
in  with  favorite  preconceived  ideas — and  then  I 
called  to  mind  the  poor  fellow's  speech  about  the 
beetle's  being  "  the  index  of  his  fortune."  Upon  the 
whole,  I  was  sadly  vexed  and  puzzled,  but,  at  length, 
I  concluded  to  make  a  virtue  of  necessity — to  dig  with 
a  good  will,  and  thus  the  sooner  to  convince  the 
visionary,  by  ocular  demonstration,  of  the  fallacy  of 
the  opinions  he  entertained. 

The  lanterns  having  been  lit,  we  all  fell  to  work 
with  a  zeal  worthy  a  more  rational  cause ;  and,  as  the 
glare  fell  upon  our  persons  and  implements,  I  could 
not  help  thinking  how  picturesque  a  group  we  composed, 
and  how  strange  and  suspicious  our  labors  must  have 
appeared  to  any  interloper  who,  by  chance,  might  have 
stumbled  upon  our  whereabouts. 

We  dug  very  steadily  for  two  hours.  Little  was  said ; 
and  our  chief  embarrassment  lay  in  the  yelpings  of  the 
dog,  who  took  exceeding  interest  in  our  proceedings. 
He  at  length  became  so  obstreperous,  that  we  grew 
fearful  of  his  giving  the  alarm  to  some  stragglers  in 
the  vicinity ;  or,  rather,  this  was  the  apprehension  of 
Legrand ; — for  myself,  I  should  have  rejoiced  at  any 
interruption  which  might  have  enabled  me  to  get  the 
wanderer  home.  The  noise  was,  at  length,  very  effec- 
tually silenced  by  Jupiter,  who,  getting  out  of  the  hole 
with  a  dogged  air  of  deliberation,  tied  the  brute's  mouth 


22  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

up  with  one  of  his  suspenders,  and  then  returned,  with 
a  grave  chuckle,  to  his  task. 

When  the  time  mentioned  had  expired,  we  had 
reached  a  depth  of  five  feet,  and  yet  no  signs  of  any 
treasure  became  manifest.  A  general  pause  ensued, 
and  I  began  to  hope  that  the  farce  was  at  an  end. 
Legrand,  however,  although  evidently  much  discon- 
certed, wiped  his  brow  thoughtfully  and  recommenced. 
We  had  excavated  the  entire  circle  of  four  feet 
diameter,  and  now  we  slightly  enlarged  the  limit,  and 
went  to  the  farther  depth  of  two  feet.  Still  nothing 
appeared.  The  gold-seeker,  whom  I  sincerely  pitied, 
at  length  clambered  from  the  pit,  with  the  bitterest 
disappointment  imprinted  upon  every  feature,  and  pro- 
ceeded, slowly  and  reluctantly,  to  put  on  his  coat,  which 
he  had  thrown  off  at  the  beginning  of  his  labor.  In  the 
meantime  I  made  no  remark.  Jupiter,  at  a  signal  from 
his  master,  began  to  gather  up  his  tools.  This  done, 
and  the  dog  having  been  unmuzzled,  we  turned  in  pro- 
found silence  towards  home. 

We  had  taken,  perhaps,  a  dozen  steps  in  this 
direction,  when,  with  a  loud  oath,  Legrand  strode  up 
to  Jupiter,  and  seized  him  by  the  collar.  The 
astonished  negro  opened  his  eyes  and  mouth  to  the 
fullest  extent,  let  fall  the  spades,  and  fell  upon  his 
knees. 

"You  scoundrel,"  said  Legrand,  hissing  out  the 
syllables  from  between  his  clenched  teeth — "you 
infernal  black  villain ! — speak,  I  tell  you  ! — answer  me 
this  instant,  without  prevarication! — which — which  is 
your  left  eye?" 

"  Oh,  my  golly,  Massa  Will !  aint  dis  here  my  lef  eye 
for  sartain?"  roared  the  terrified  Jupiter,  placing  his 
hand  upon  his  right  organ  of  vision,  and  holding  it  there 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  23 

with  a  desperate  pertinacity,  as  if  in  immediate  dread  of 
his  master's  attempt  at  a  gouge. 

"I  thought  so! — I  knew  it!  hurrah!"  vociferated 
Legrand,  letting  the  negro  go,  and  executing  a  series 
of  curvets  and  caracols,  much  to  the  astonishment  of 
his  valet,  who,  arising  from  his  knees,  looked,  mutely, 
from  his  master  to  myself,  and  then  from  myself  to  his 
master. 

"Come!  we  must  go  back,"  said  the  latter;  "the 
game's  not  up  yet ;"  and  he  again  led  the  way  to  the 
tulip-tree. 

"  Jupiter,"  said  he,  when  he  reached  its  foot,  "  come 
here !  was  the  skull  nailed  to  the  limb  with  the  face 
outwards,  or  with  the  face  to  the  limb  ?  " 

"  De  face  was  out,  massa,  so  dat  de  crows  could  get 
at  de  eyes  good,  widout  any  trouble." 

"  Well,  then,  was  it  this  eye  or  that  through  which 
you  dropped  the  beetle  ?  " — here  Legrand  touched  each 
of  Jupiter's  eyes. 

"Twas  dis  eye,  massa — de  lef  eye — jis  as  you  tell 
me,"  and  here  it  was  his  right  eye  that  the  negro 
indicated. 

"  That  will  do — we  must  try  it  again." 

Here  my  friend,  about  whose  madness  I  now  saw, 
or  fancied  that  I  saw,  certain*  indications  of  method, 
removed  the  peg  which  marked  the  spot  where  the 
beetle  fell,  to  a  spot  about  three  inches  to  the  westward 
of  its  former  position.  Taking,  now,  the  tape-measure 
from  the  nearest  point  of  the  trunk  to  the  peg,  as 
before,  and  continuing  the  extension  in  a  straight  line  to 
the  distance  of  fifty  feet,  a  spot  was  indicated,  removed 
by  several  yards  from  the  point  at  which  we  had  been 
digging. 

Around  the  new  position  a  circle,  somewhat  larger 


24  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

than  in  the  former  instance,  was  now  described,  and 
we  again  set  to  work  with  the  spades.  I  was  dreadfully 
weary,  but  scarcely  understanding  what  had  occasioned 
the  change  in  my  thoughts,  I  felt  no  longer  any  great 
aversion  from  the  labor  imposed.  I  had  become  most 
unaccountably  interested — nay,  even  excited.  Perhaps 
there  was  something,  amid  all  the  extravagant  demeanor 
of  Legrand — some  air  of  forethought,  or  of  deliber- 
ation, which  impressed  me.  I  dug  eagerly,  and  now 
and  then  caught  myself  actually  looking,  with  some- 
thing that  very  much  resembled  expectation,  for  the 
fancied  treasure,  the  vision  of  which  had  demented  my 
unfortunate  companion.  At  a  period  when  such  vaga- 
ries of  thought  most  fully  possessed  me,  and  when  we 
had  been  at  work  perhaps  an  hour  and  a  half,  we 
were  again  interrupted  by  the  violent  howlings  of  the 
dog.  His  uneasiness,  in  the  first  instance,  had  been, 
evidently,  but  the  result  of  playfulness  or  caprice,  but 
he  now  assumed  a  bitter  and  serious  tone.  Upon 
Jupiter's  again  attempting  to  muzzle  him,  he  made 
furious  resistance,  and,  leaping  into  the  hole,  tore  up 
the  mould  frantically  with  his  claws.  In  a  few  seconds 
he  had  uncovered  a  mass  of  human  bones,  forming 
two  complete  skeletons,  intermingled  with  several  but- 
tons of  metal,  and  what  appeared  to  be  the  dust  of 
decayed  woolen.  One  or  two  strokes  of  a  spade  up- 
turned the  blade  of  a  large  Spanish  knife,  and,  as  we 
dug  farther,  three  or  four  loose  pieces  of  gold  and  silver 
coin  came  to  light. 

At  the  sight  of  these  the  joy  of  Jupiter  could  scarcely 
be  restrained,  but  the  countenance  of  his  master  wore  an 
air  of  extreme  disappointment.  He  urged  us,  however, 
to  continue  our  exertions,  and  the  words  were  hardly 
uttered  when  I  stumbled  and  fell  forward,  having  caught 


THli    GOLD  BUG 


THE    c;OLD  RUG 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  25 

the  toe  of  my  boot  in  a  large  ring  of  iron  that  lay  half- 
buried  in  the  loose  earth. 

We  now  worked  in  earnest,  and  never  did  I  pass 
ten  minutes  of  more  intense  excitement.  During  this 
interval  we  had  fairly  unearthed  an  oblong  chest  of 
wood,  which  from  its  perfect  preservation  and  wonderful 
hardness,  had  plainly  been  subjected  to  some  miner- 
alizing process — perhaps  that  of  the  bichloride  of 
mercury.  This  box  was  three  feet  and  a  half  long, 
three  feet  broad,  and  two  and  a  half  feet  deep.  It 
was  firmly  secured  by  bands  of  wrought  iron,  riveted, 
and  forming  a  kind  of  open  trellis-work  over  the  whole. 
On  each  side  of  the  chest,  near  the  top,  were  three 
rings  of  iron — six  in  all — by  means  of  which  a  firm 
hold  could  be  obtained  by  six  persons.  Our  utmost 
united  endeavors  served  only  to  disturb  the  coffer 
very  slightly  in  its  bed.  We  at  once  saw  the  impos- 
sibility of  removing  so  great  a  weight.  Luckily,  the 
sole  fastenings  of  the  lid  consisted  of  two  sliding  bolts. 
These  we  drew  back — trembling  and  panting  with  anx- 
iety. In  an  instant,  a  treasure  of  incalculable  value  lay 
gleaming  before  us.  As  the  rays  of  the  lanterns  fell 
within  the  pit,  there  flashed  upwards  a  glow  and  a  glare, 
from  a  confused  heap  of  gold  and  of  jewels,  that  abso- 
lutely dazzled  our  eyes. 

I  shall  not  pretend  to  describe  the  feelings  with 
which  I  gazed.  Amazement  was,  of  course,  predomi- 
nant. Legrand  appeared  exhausted  with  excitement, 
and  spoke  very  few  words.  Jupiter's  countenance 
wore,  for  some  minutes,  as  deadly  a  pallor  as  it  is 
possible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  for  any  negro's  visage  to 
assume.  He  seemed  stupefied — thunder-stricken.  Pres- 
ently he  fell  upon  his  knees  in  the  pit,  and,  burying  his 
naked  arms  up  to  the  elbows  in  gold,  let  them  there 


26  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

remain,  as  if  enjoying  the  luxury  of  a  bath.  At  length 
with  a  deep  sigh,  he  exclaimed,  as  if  in  a  soliloquy— 

"And  dis  all  cum  ob  de  goole-bug !  de  putty  goole- 
bug !  de  poor  little  goole-bug,  what  I  boosed  in  dat 
sabage  kind  ob  style !  Aint  you  shamed  ob  yourself, 
nigger  ? — answer  me  dat !  " 

It  became  necessary,  at  last,  that  I  should  arouse 
both  master  and  valet  to  the  expediency  of  removing 
the  treasure.  It  was  growing  late,  and  it  behooved  us 
to  make  exertion,  that  we  might  get  everything  housed 
before  daylight.  It  was  difficult  to  say  what  should 
be  done,  and  much  time  was  spent  in  deliberation — so 
confused  were  the  ideas  of  all.  We,  finally,  lightened 
the  box  by  removing  two-thirds  of  its  contents,  when 
we  were  enabled,  with  some  trouble,  to  raise  it  from 
the  hole.  The  articles  taken  out  were  deposited  among 
the  brambles,  and  the  dog  left  to  guard  them,  with 
strict  orders  from  Jupiter  neither,  upon  any  pretence, 
to  stir  from  the  spot,  nor  to  open  his  mouth  until 
our  return.  We  then  hurriedly  made  for  home  with 
the  chest ;  reaching  the  hut  in  safety,  but  after  exces- 
sive toil,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Worn  out 
as  we  were,  it  was  not  in  human  nature  to  do  more 
immediately.  We  rested  until  two,  and  had  supper; 
starting  for  the  hills  immediately  afterwards,  armed 
with  three  stout  sacks,  which,  by  good  luck,  were 
upon  the  premises.  A  little  before  four  we  arrived 
at  the  pit,  divided  the  remainder  of  the  booty,  as 
equally  as  might  be,  among  us,  and,  leaving  the  holes 
unfilled,  again  set  out  for  the  hut,  at  which,  for  the 
second  time,  we  deposited  our  golden  burthens,  just  as 
the  first  faint  streaks  of  the  dawn  gleamed  from  over 
the  tree-tops  in  the  East. 

We  were  now  thoroughly  broken  down ;    but  the 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  27 

intense  excitement  of  the  time  denied  us  repose.  After 
an  unquiet  slumber  of  some  three  or  four  hours'  dura- 
tion, we  arose,  as  if  by  preconcert,  to  make  examination 
of  our  treasure. 

The  chest  had  been  full  to  the  brim,  and  we  spent 
the  whole  day,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  next  night, 
in  a  scrutiny  of  its  contents.  There  had  been  nothing 
like  order  or  arrangement.  Everything  had  been 
heaped  in  promiscuously.  Having  assorted  all  with 
care,  we  found  ourselves  possessed  of  even  vaster 
wealth  than  we  had  at  first  supposed.  In  coin  there 
was  rather  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars — estimating  the  value  of  the  pieces,  as  accu- 
rately as  we  could,  by  the  tables  of  the  period.  There 
was  not  a  particle  of  silver.  All  was  gold  of  antique 
date  and  of  great  variety — French,  Spanish,  and  Ger- 
man money,  with  a  few  English  guineas,  and  some 
counters,  of  which  we  had  never  seen  specimens  before. 
There  were  several  very  large  and  heavy  coins,  so 
worn  that  we  could  make  nothing  of  their  inscriptions. 
There  was  no  American  money.  The  value  of  the 
jewels  we  found  more  difficulty  in  estimating.  There 
were  diamonds — some  of  them  exceedingly  large  and 
fine — a  hundred  and  ten  in  all,  and  not  one  of  them 
small ;  eighteen  rubies  of  remarkable  brilliancy ; 
three  hundred  and  ten  emeralds,  all  very  beautiful ; — 
and  twenty-one  sapphires,  with  an  opal.  These  stones 
had  all  been  broken  from  their  settings  and  thrown 
loose  in  the  chest.  The  settings  themselves,  which 
we  picked  out  from  among  the  other  gold,  appeared 
to  have  been  beaten  up  with  hammers,  as  if  to  prevent 
identification.  Besides  all  this,  there  was  a  vast 
quantity  of  solid  gold  ornaments  ; — nearly  two  hundred 
massive  finger  and  ear-rings  ; — rich  chains — thirty  of 


28  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

these,  if  I  remember; — eighty-three  very  large  and 
heavy  crucifixes ; — five  gold  censers  of  great  value ; — 
a  prodigious  golden  punch-bowl,  ornamented  with 
richly  chased  vine-leaves  and  Bacchanalian  figures; 
with  two  sword-handles  exquisitely  embossed,  and  many 
other  smaller  articles  which  I  cannot  recollect.  The 
weight  of  these  valuables  exceeded  three  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  avoirdupois ;  and  in  this  estimate  I  have 
not  included  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  superb  gold 
watches ;  three  of  the  number  being  worth  each  five 
hundred  dollars,  if  one.  Many  of  them  were  very  old 
and  as  time-keepers  valueless ;  the  works  having  suffered 
more  or  less  from  corrosion — but  all  were  richly 
jeweled  and  in  cases  of  great  worth.  We  estimated  the 
entire  contents  of  the  chest,  that  night,  at  a  million  and 
a  half  of  dollars ;  and,  upon  the  subsequent  disposal  of 
the  trinkets  and  jewels  (a  few  being  retained  for  our 
own  use),  it  was  found  that  we  had  greatly  undervalued 
the  treasure. 

When  at  length,  we  had  concluded  our  examination, 
and  the  intense  excitement  of  the  time  had  in  some 
measure  subsided,  Legrand,  who  saw  that  I  was  dying 
with  impatience  for  a  solution  of  this  most  extraordinary 
riddle,  entered  into  a  full  detail  of  all  the  circumstances 
connected  with  it. 

"  You  remember,"  said  he,  "  the  night  when  I  handed 
you  the  rough  sketch  I  had  made  of  the  scarabceiis. 
You  recollect  also,  that  I  became  quite  vexed  at  you 
for  insisting  that  my  drawing  resembled  a  death's-head. 
When  you  first  made  this  assertion  I  thought  you  were 
jesting;  but  afterwards  I  called  to  mind  the  peculiar 
spots  on  the  back  of  the  insect,  and  admitted  to  my- 
self that  your  remark  had  some  little  foundation  in 
fact.  Still,  the  sneer  at  my  graphic  powers  irritated 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  29 

me — for  I  am  considered  a  good  artist — and,  therefore, 
when  you  handed  me  the  scrap  of  parchment,  I  was  about 
to  crumple  it  up  and  throw  it  angrily  into  the  fire." 

"The  scrap  of  paper,  you  mean,"  said  I. 

"  No ;  it  had  much  of  the  appearance  of  paper,  and 
at  first  I  supposed  it  to  be  such,  but  when  I  came  to 
draw  upon  it,  I  discovered  it,  at  once,  to  be  a  piece  of 
very  thin  parchment.  It  was  quite  dirty,  you  remember. 
Well,  as  I  was  in  the  very  act  of  crumpling  it  up,  my 
glance  fell  upon  the  sketch  at  which  you  had  been  look- 
ing, and  you  may  imagine  my  astonishment  when  I 
perceived,  in  fact,  the  figure  of  a  death's-head  just 
where,  it  seemed  to  me,  I  had  made  the  drawing  of  the 
beetle.  For  a  moment  I  was  too  much  amazed  to 
think  with  accuracy.  I  knew  that  my  design  was  very 
different  in  detail  from  this — although  there  was  a 
certain  similarity  in  general  outline.  Presently  I  took 
a  candle,  and  seating  myself  at  the  other  end  of  the 
room,  proceeded  to  scrutinize  the  parchment  more 
closely.  Upon  turning  it  over,  I  saw  my  own  sketch 
upon  the  reverse,  just  as  I  had  made  it.  My  first  idea, 
now,  was  mere  surprise  at  the  really  remarkable  simi- 
larity of  outline — at  the  singular  coincidence  involved 
in  the  fact,  that  unknown  to  me,  there  should  have 
been  a  skull  upon  the  other  side  of  the  parchment; 
immediately  beneath  my  figure  of  the  searabceus,  and 
that  this  skull,  not  only  in  outline,  but  in  size,  should 
so  closely  resemble  my  drawing.  I  say  the  singularity 
of  this  coincidence  absolutely  stupefied  me  for  a  time. 
This  is  the  usual  effect  of  such  coincidences.  The 
mind  struggles  to  establish  a  connection — a  sequence 
of  cause  and  effect — and,  being  unable  to  do  so,  suffers 
a  species  of  temporary  paralysis.  But  when  I  recovered 
from  this  stupor,  there  dawned  upon  me  gradually  a 


30  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

conviction  which  startled  me  even  far  more  than  the 
coincidence.  I  began  distinctly,  positively,  to  remem- 
ber that  there  had  been  no  drawing  upon  the  parch- 
ment when  I  made  my  sketch  of  the  scarabceus.  I 
became  perfectly  certain  of  this:  for  I  recollected 
turning  up  first  one  side  and  then  the  other,  in  search 
of  the  cleanest  spot.  Had  the  skull  been  then  there,  of 
course  I  could  not  have  failed  to  notice  it.  Here  was 
indeed  a  mystery  which  I  felt  it  impossible  to  explain ; 
but,  even  at  that  early  moment,  there  seemed  to  glimmer, 
faintly,  within  the  most  remote  and  secret  chambers  of 
my  intellect,  a  glowworm-like  conception  of  that  truth 
which  last  night's  adventure  brought  to  so  magnificent 
a  demonstration.  I  arose  at  once,  and  putting  the 
parchment  securely  away,  dismissed  all  farther  reflection 
until  I  should  be  alone. 

"When  you  had  gone,  and  when  Jupiter  was  fast 
asleep,  I  betook  myself  to  a  more  methodical  investiga- 
tion of  the  affair.  In  the  first  place  I  considered  the 
manner  in  which  the  parchment  had  come  into  my 
possession.  The  spot  where  we  discovered  the  scara- 
bceus  was  on  the  coast  of  the  mainland,  about  a  mile 
eastward  of  the  island,  and  but  a  short  distance  above 
high-water  mark.  Upon  my  taking  hold  of  it,  it  gave 
me  a  sharp  bite,  which  caused  me  to  let  it  drop.  Jupi- 
ter, with  his  accustomed  caution,  before  seizing  the 
insect,  which  had  flown  towards  him,  looked  about 
him  for  a  leaf,  or  something  of  that  nature,  by  which  to 
take  hold  of  it.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  his  eyes, 
and  mine  also,  fell  upon  the  scrap  of  parchment,  which 
I  then  supposed  to  be  paper.  It  was  lying  half  buried 
in  the  sand,  a  corner  sticking  up.  Near  the  spot  where 
we  found  it,  I  observed  the  remnants  of  the  hull  of 
what  appeared  to  have  been  a  ship's  long  boat.  The 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  31 

wreck  seemed  to  have  been  there  for  a  very  great  while ; 
for  the  resemblance  to  boat  timbers  could  scarcely  be 
traced. 

"Well,  Jupiter  picked  up  the  parchment,  wrapped 
the  beetle  in  it,  and  gave  it  to  me.  Soon  afterwards 
we  turned  to  go  home,  and  on  the  way  met  Lieutenant 

G .  I  showed  him  the  insect,  and  he  begged  me  to 

let  him  take  it  to  the  fort.  Upon  my  consenting,  he 
thrust  it  forthwith  into  his  waistcoat  pocket,  without 
the  parchment  in  which  it  had  been  wrapped,  and  which 
I  had  continued  to  hold  in  my  hand  during  his  inspec- 
tion. Perhaps  he  dreaded  my  changing  my  mind,  and 
thought  it  best  to  make  sure  of  the  prize  at  once — you 
know  how  enthusiastic  he  is  on  all  subjects  connected 
with  Natural  History.  At  the  same  time,  without  being 
conscious  of  it,  I  must  have  deposited  the  parchment  in 
my  own  pocket. 

"  You  remember  that  when  I  went  to  the  table,  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  sketch  of  the  beetle,  I  found 
no  paper  where  it  was  usually  kept.  I  looked  in  the 
drawer,  and  found  none  there.  I  searched  my  pockets, 
hoping  to  find  an  old  letter,  when  my  hand  fell  upon 
the  parchment.  I  thus  detail  the  precise  mode  in  which 
it  came  into  my  possession ;  for  the  circumstances  im- 
pressed me  with  peculiar  force. 

"No  doubt  you  will  think  me  fanciful — but  I  had 
already  established  a  kind  of  connection.  I  had  put 
together  two  links  of  a  great  chain.  There  was  a  boat 
lying  upon  the  sea-coast,  and  not  far  from  the  boat 
was  a  parchment — not  a  paper — with  a  skull  depicted 
upon  it.  You  will,  of  course,  ask  '  Where  is  the  con- 
nection?' I  reply  that  the  skull,  or  death's-head,  is 
the  well-known  emblem  of  the  pirate.  The  flag  of  the 
death's-head  is  hoisted  in  all  engagements. 


32  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

"  I  have  said  that  the  scrap  was  parchment,  and  not 
paper.  Parchment  is  durable — almost  imperishable. 
Matters  of  little  moment  are  rarely  consigned  to  parch- 
ment ;  since,  for  the  mere  ordinary  purposes  of  drawing 
or  writing,  it  is  not  nearly  so  well  adapted  as  paper. 
This  reflection  suggested  some  meaning— some  rele- 
vancy— in  the  death's-head.  I  did  not  fail  to  observe, 
also,  the  form  of  the  parchment.  Although  one  of  its 
corners  had  been  by  some  accident  destroyed,  it  could 
be  seen  that  the  original  form  was  oblong.  It  was  just 
such  a  slip,  indeed,  as  might  have  been  chosen  for  a 
memorandum — for  a  record  of  something  to  be  long 
remembered  and  carefully  preserved." 

"  But,"  I  interposed,  "  you  say  that  the  skull  was 
not  upon  the  parchment  when  you  made  the  drawing 
of  the  beetle.  How  then  do  you  trace  any  connection 
between  the  boat  and  the  skull — since  this  latter,  accord- 
ing to  your  own  admission,  must  have  been  designed 
(God  only  knows  how  or  by  whom)  at  some  period 
subsequent  to  your  sketching  the  scarabcew  f  " 

"Ah,  hereupon  turns  the  whole  mystery;  although, 
the  secret,  at  this  point,  I  had  comparatively  little 
difficulty  in  solving.  My  steps  were  sure,  and  could 
afford  but  a  single  result.  I  reasoned,  for  example, 
thus :  When  I  drew  the  scaraboeus,  there  was  no  skull 
apparent  upon  the  parchment.  "When  I  had  completed 
the  drawing  I  gave  it  to  you,  and  observed  you  nar- 
rowly until  you  returned  it.  You,  therefore,  did  not 
design  the  skull,  and  no  one  else  was  present  to  do  it. 
Then  it  was  not  done  by  human  agency.  And  never- 
theless it  was  done. 

"  At  this  stage  of  my  reflections  I  endeavored  to 
remember  and  did  remember,  with  entire  distinctness, 
every  incident  which  occurred  about  the  period  in 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  33 

question.  The  weather  was  chilly  (oh  rare  and  happy 
accident !)  and  a  fire  was  blazing  upon  the  hearth.  I 
was  heated  with  exercise  and  sat  near  the  table.  You, 
however,  had  drawn  a  chair  close  to  the  chimney.  'Just 
as  I  placed  the  parchment  in  your  hand,  and  as  you 
were  in  the  act  of  inspecting  it,  Wolf,  the  Newfound- 
land, entered,  and  leaped  upon  your  shoulders.  With 
your  left  hand  you  caressed  him  and  kept  him  off,  while 
your  right,  holding  the  parchment,  was  permitted  to 
fall  listlessly  between  your  knees,  and  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  fire.  At  one  moment  I  thought  the  blaze 
had  caught  it,  and  was  about  to  caution  you,  but, 
before  I  could  speak,  you  had  withdrawn  it,  and  were 
engaged  in  its  examination.  When  I  considered  all 
these  particulars,  I  doubted  not  for  a  moment  that 
heat  had  been  the  agent  in  bringing  to  light,  upon  the 
parchment,  the  skull  which  I  saw  designed  upon  it. 
You  are  well  aware  that  chemical  preparations  exist, 
and  have  existed  time  out  of  mind,  by  means  of  which 
it  is  possible  to  write  upon  either  paper  or  vellum, 
so  that  the  characters  shall  become  visible  only  when 
subjected  to  the  action  of  fire.  Zaffre,  digested  in 
aqua  regia,  and  diluted  with  four  times  its  weight  of 
water,  is  sometimes  employed ;  a  green  tint  results. 
The  regulus  of  cobalt,  dissolved  in  spirit  of  nitre,  gives  a 
red.  These  colors  disappear  at  longer  or  shorter  intervals 
after  the  material  written  upon  cools,  but  again  become 
apparent  upon  the  re-application  of  heat. 

"I  now  scrutinized  the  death's-head  with  care.  Its 
outer  edges — the  edges  of  the  drawing  nearest  the  edge 
of  the  vellum — were  far  more  distinct  than  the  others. 
It  was  clear  that  the  action  of  the  caloric  had  been 
imperfect  or  unequal,  I  immediately  kindled  a  fire, 
and  subjected  every  portion  of  the  parchment  to  a 
Vol.  I.-3. 


34  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

glowing  heat.  At  first,  the  only  efiect  was  the  strength- 
ening of  the  faint  lines  in  the  skull ;  but,  upon 
persevering  in  the  experiment,  there  became  visible, 
at  the  corner  of  the  slip,  diagonally  opposite  to  the 
spot  in  which  the  death's-head  was  delineated,  the  figure 
of  what  I  at  first  supposed  to  be  a  goat.  A  closer 
scrutiny,  however,  satisfied  me  that  it  was  intended  for 
a  kid." 

"  Ha !  ha ! "  said  I,  "  to  be  sure  I  have  no  right  to 
laugh  at  you — a  million  and  a  half  of  money  is  too 
serious  a  matter  for  mirth — but  you  are  not  about  to 
establish  a  third  link  in  your  chain — you  will  not  find 
any  especial  connection  between  your  pirates  and  a  goat 
— pirates,  you  know,  have  nothing  to  do  with  goats ; 
they  appertain  to  the  farming  interest." 

"  But  I  have  said  that  the  figure  was  not  that  of  a 


"  Well,  a  kid  then — pretty  much  the  same  thing." 

"  Pretty  much,  but  not  altogether,"  said  Legrand. 
"  You  may  have  heard  of  one  Captain  Kidd.  I  at 
once  looked  upon  the  figure  of  the  animal  as  a  kind  of 
punning  or  hieroglyphical  signature.  I  say  signature  ; 
because  its  position  upon  the  vellum  suggested  this 
idea.  The  death's-head  at  the  corner  diagonally  op- 
posite, had,  in  the  same  manner,  the  air  of  a  stamp,  or 
seal.  But  I  was  surely  put  out  by  the  absence  of 
all  else — of  the  body  to  my  imagined  instrument — of 
the  text  for  my  context." 

"  I  presume  you  expected  to  find  a  letter  between  the 
stamp  and  the  signature." 

"Something  of  that  kind.  The  fact  is,  I  felt  irre- 
sistibly impressed  with  a  presentiment  of  some  vast 
good  fortune  impending.  I  can  scarcely  say  why. 
Perhaps,  after  all,  it  was  rather  a  desire  than  an  actual 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  35 

belief;  but  do  you  know  that  Jupiter's  silly  words, 
about  the  bug  being  of  solid  gold,  had  a  remarkable 
effect  upon  my  fancy?  And  then  the  series  of  acci- 
dents and  coincidences — these  were  so  very  extraor- 
dinary. Do  you  observe  how  mere  an  accident  it  was 
that  these  events  should  have  occurred  upon  the  sole 
day  of  all  the  year  in  which  it  has  been,  or  may  be, 
sufficiently  cool  for  fire,  and  that  without  the  fire,  or 
without  the  intervention  of  the  dog  at  the  precise  mo- 
ment in  which  he  appeared,  I  should  never  have  become 
aware  of  the  death's-head,  and  so  never  the  possessor  of 
the  treasure  ?  " 

"  But  proceed — I  am  all  impatience." 

"  Well ;  you  have  heard,  of  course,  the  many  stories 
current — the  thousand  vague  rumors  afloat  about  money 
buried,  somewhere  upon  the  Atlantic  coast,  by  Kidd 
and  his  associates.  These  rumors  must  have  had 
some  foundation  in  fact.  And  that  the  rumors  have 
existed  so  long  and  continuous,  could  have  resulted, 
it  appeared  to  me,  only  from  the  circumstance  of  the 
buried  treasure  still  remaining  entombed.  Had  Kidd 
concealed  his  plunder  for  a  time,  and  afterwards 
reclaimed  it,  the  rumors  would  scarcely  have  reached 
us  in  their  present  unvarying  form.  You  will  ob- 
serve that  the  stories  told  are  all  about  money- 
seekers,  not  about  money-finders.  Had  the  pirate 
recovered  his  money,  there  the  affair  would  have 
dropped.  It  seemed  to  me  that  some  accident — say 
the  loss  of  a  memorandum  indicating  its  locality — had 
deprived  him  of  the  means  of  recovering  it,  and  that 
this  accident  had  become  known  to  his  followers,  who 
otherwise  might  never  have  heard  that  treasure  had 
been  concealed  at  all,  and  who,  busying  themselves  in 
vain,  because  unguided  attempts  to  regain  it,  had 


36  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

given  first  birth,  and  then  universal  currency  to  the 
reports  which  are  now  so  common.  Have  you  ever 
heard  of  any  important  treasure  being  unearthed  along 
the  coast  ? " 

"  Never." 

"  But  that  Kidd's  accumulations  were  immense  is 
well  known.  I  took  it  for  granted,  therefore,  that  the 
earth  still  held  them ;  and  you  will  scarcely  be  sur- 
prised when  I  tell  you  that  I  felt  a  hope,  nearly  amount- 
ing to  certainty,  that  the  parchment  so  strangely  found, 
involved  a  lost  record  of  the  place  of  deposit." 

"  But  how  did  you  proceed  ?  " 

"  I  held  the  vellum  again  to  the  fire,  after  increasing 
the  heat ;  but  nothing  appeared.  I  now  thought  it 
possible  that  the  coating  of  dirt  might  have  something 
to  do  with  the  failure  ;  so  I  carefully  rinsed  the  parch- 
ment by  pouring  warm  water  over  it,  and,  having  done 
this,  I  placed  it  in  a  tin  pan,  with  the  skull  downwards, 
and  put  the  pan  upon  a  furnace  of  lighted  charcoal. 
In  a  few  minutes,  the  pan  having  become  thoroughly 
heated,  I  removed  the  slip,  and,  to  my  inexpressible 
joy,  found  it  spotted,  in  several  places,  with  what 
appeared  to  be  figures  arranged  in  lines.  Again  I 
placed  it  in  the  pan,  and  suffered  it  to  remain  another 
minute.  Upon  taking  it  off,  the  whole  was  just  as  you 
see  it  now." 

Here  Legrand,  having  re-heated  the  parchment, 
submitted  it  to  my  inspection.  The  following  char- 
acters were  rudely  traced,  in  a  red  tint,  between  the 
death's-head  and  the  goat : 

53tIt305))6*;4826)4J.)4t);806*;48t81[60))85;lt(;:t* 
8t83(88)5*t;46(;88*96*?;8)*t(;485);5*t2:*i(;4J»6^2(5 

*— 4)8^8*;4069285);)6t8)4tt;l(:j;9;48()81;8:8tl;48t85; 
4)485t528806*81(J9;48;(88;4(t?34;48)4J;161;:188;t?; 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  37 

"  But,"  said  I,  returning  him  the  slip,  "  I  am  as  much 
in  the  dark  as  ever.  Were  all  the  jewels  of  Golconda 
awaiting  me  upon  my  solution  of  this  enigma,  I  am 
quite  sure  that  I  should  be  unable  to  earn  them." 

"  And  yet,"  said  Legrand,  "  the  solution  is  by  no 
means  so  difficult  as  you  might  be  led  to  imagine  from 
the  first  hasty  inspection  of  the  characters.  These 
characters,  as  any  one  might  readily  guess,  form  a 
cipher — that  is  to  say,  they  convey  a  meaning ;  but  then, 
from  what  is  known  of  Kidd,  I  could  not  suppose  him 
capable  of  constructing  any  of  the  more  abstruse  cryp- 
tographs. I  made  up  my  mind,  at  once,  that  this  was 
of  a  simple  species — such,  however,  as  would  appear,  to 
the  crude  intellect  of  the  sailor  absolutely  insoluble 
without  the  key." 

"  And  you  really  solved  it  ?  " 

"  Readily ;  I  have  solved  others  of  an  abstruseness 
ten  thousand  times  greater.  Circumstances,  and  a  cer- 
tain bias  of  mind,  have  led  me  to  take  interest  in  such 
riddles,  and  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  human 
ingenuity  can  construct  an  enigma  of  the  kind  which 
human  ingenuity  may  not,  by  proper  application,  resolve. 
In  fact,  having  once  established  connected  and  legible 
characters,  I  scarcely  gave  a  thought  to  the  mere  diffi- 
culty of  developing  their  import. 

"  In  the  present  case — indeed  in  all  cases  of  secret 
writing — the  first  question  regards  the  language  of  the 
cipher ;  for  the  principles  of  solution,  so  far,  especially, 
as  the  more  simple  ciphers  are  concerned,  depend 
upon,  and  are  varied  by,  the  genius  of  the  particular 
idiom.  In  general,  there  is  no  alternative  but  experi- 
ment (directed  by  probabilities)  of  every  tongue  known 
to  him  who  attempts  the  solution,  until  the  true  one  be 
attained.  But,  with  the  cipher  now  before  us,  all 


38  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

difficulty  was  removed  by  the  signature.  The  pun  upon 
the  word  '  Kidd '  is  appreciable  in  no  other  language 
than  the  English.  But  for  this  consideration  I  should 
have  begun  my  attempts  with  the  Spanish  and  French,  as 
the  tongues  in  which  a  secret  of  this  kind  would  most  nat- 
urally have  been  written  by  a  pirate  of  the  Spanish  main. 
As  it  was  I  assumed  the  cryptograph  to  be  English. 

"  You  observe  there  are  no  divisions  between  the 
words.  Had  there  been  divisions,  the  task  would  have 
been  comparatively  easy.  In  such  case  I  should  have 
commenced  with  a  collation  and  analysis  of  the  shorter 
words,  and  had  a  word  of  a  single  letter  occurred,  as  is 
most  likely  (a  or  /,  for  example),  I  should  have  con- 
sidered the  solution  as  assured.  But,  there  being  no 
division,  my  first  step  was  to  ascertain  the  predominant 
letters,  as  well  as  the  least  frequent.  Counting  all,  I 
constructed  a  table  thus : 

Of  the  character  8  there  are  33. 
;         "         26. 

4  "         19. 
J)        "         16. 
*         "         13. 

5  "         12. 


6 


0 

92 

:3 


1L 

8. 
6. 
6. 
4. 
3. 
2. 
L 


"  Now,  in  English,  the  letter  which  most  frequently 
occurs  is  e.  Afterwards  the  succession  runs  thus :  a  o 
idhnrstuycfglmwbkpqxz.  E  pre- 
dominates so  remarkably  that  an  individual  sentence  of 
any  length  is  rarely  seen,  in  which  it  is  not  the  prevail- 
ing character. 

"Here,  then,  we  have   in   the  very  beginning,  the 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  39 

groundwork  for  something  more  than  a  mere  guess. 
The  general  use  which  may  be  made  of  the  table  is 
obvious — but  in  this  particular  cipher  we  shall  only 
very  partially  require  its  aid.  As  our  predominant 
character  is  8,  we  will  commence  by  assuming  it  as  the 
e  of  the  natural  alphabet.  To  verify  the  supposition, 
let  us  observe  if  the  8  be  seen  often  in  couples — for  e  is 
doubled  with  great  frequency  in  English — in  such  words, 
for  example,  as  'meet/  'fleet,'  'speed/  'seen/  'been/ 
'  agree/  &c.  In  the  present  instance  we  see  it  doubled 
no  less  than  five  times,  although  the  cryptograph  is  brief. 

"  Let  us  assume  8,  then  as  e.  Now  of  all  words  in 
the  language, '  the '  is  most  usual ;  let  us  see,  therefore, 
whether  there  are  not  repetitions  of  any  three  charac- 
ters, in  the  same  order  of  collocation,  the  last  of  them 
being  8.  If  we  discover  repetitions  of  such  letters,  so 
arranged,  they  will  most  probably  represent  the  word 
*  the.'  Upon  inspection,  we  find  no  less  than  seven  such 
arrangements,  the  characters  being  ;48.  We  may,  there- 
fore, assume  that  ;  represents  t,  4  represents  h,  and  8 
represents  e — the  last  being  now  well  confirmed.  Thus 
a  great  step  has  been  taken. 

"  But,  having  established  a  single  word,  we  are  en- 
abled to  establish  a  vastly  important  point ;  that  is  to 
say,  several  commencements  and  terminations  of  other 
words.  Let  us  refer,  for  example,  to  the  last  instance 
but  one,  in  which  the  combination  ;48  occurs — not  far 
from  the  end  of  the  cipher.  We  know  that  the  ;  im- 
mediately ensuing  is  the  commencement  of  a  word, 
and,  of  the  six  characters  succeeding  this  '  the/  we  are 
cognizant  of  no  less  than  five.  Let  us  set  these  charac- 
ters down,  thus  by  the  letters  we  know  them  to  represent, 
leaving  a  space  for  the  unknown — 
t  eeth. 


40  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

"  Here  we  are  enabled,  at  once,  to  discard  the  '  I h,'  as 
forming  no  portion  of  the  word  commencing  with  the 
first  t ;  since,  by  the  experiment  of  the  entire  alphabet 
for  a  letter  adapted  to  the  vacancy,  we  perceive  that  no 
word  can  be  formed  of  which  this  th  can  be  a  part.  We 
are  thus  narrowed  into 

t  ee, 

and,  going  through  the  alphabet,  if  necessary,  as  before, 
we  arrive  at  the  word  '  tree,'  as  the  sole  possible  reading. 
We  thus  gain  another  letter,  r,  represented  by  (,  with 
the  words  '  the  tree '  in  juxtaposition. 

"  Looking  beyond  these  words,  for  a  short  distance, 
we  again  see  the  combination  ;48,  and  employ  it  by  way 
of  termination  to  what  immediately  precedes.  We  have 
thus  this  arrangement : 

the  tree  ;4(J?34  the, 

or,  substituting  the  natural  letters,  where  known,  it 
reads  thus : 

the  tree  thrj?3h  the. 

"Now,  if,  in  place  of  the  unknown  characters,  we 
leave  blank  spaces,  or  substitute  dots,  we  read  thus : 

the  tree  thr  .  .  .  h  the, 

when  the  word  '  through '  makes  itself  evident  at  once. 
But  this  discovery  gives  us  three  new  letters,  o,  u  and  g, 
represented  by  f  ?  and  3. 

"Looking  now,  narrowly,  through  the  cipher  for 
combinations  of  known  characters,  we  find,  not  very  far 
from  the  beginning,  this  arrangement, 

83(88,  or  egree, 

which,  plainly,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  word  '  degree,' 
and  gives  us  another  letter,  d,  represented  by  f. 

"  Four  letters  beyond  the  word  *  degree,'  we  perceive 
the  combination, 

;46(;88. 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  41 

"  Translating  the  known  characters,  and  representing 
the  unknown  by  dots,  as  before,  we  read  thus  : 

th  .  rtee  . 

an  arrangement  immediately  suggestive  of  the  word 
'  thirteen,'  and  again  furnishing  us  with  two  new  char- 
acters i  and  n,  represented  by  6  and  *. 

"  Referring,  now,  to  the  beginning  of  the  cryptograph, 
we  find  the  combination, 


"  Translating,  as  before,  we  obtain 

good, 

which  assures  us  that  the  first  letter  is  A,  and  that  the 
first  two  words  are  'A  good.' 

"  It  is  now  time  that  we  arrange  our  key,  as  far  as 
discovered,  in  a  tabular  form,  to  avoid  confusion.     It 

will  stand  thus  : 

5  represents  a 


t 

"  We  have,  therefore,  no  less  than  ten  of  the  most 
important  letters  represented,  and  it  will  be  unnecessary 
to  proceed  with  the  details  of  the  solution.  I  have 
said  enough  to  convince  you  that  ciphers  of  this  nature 
are  readily  soluble,  and  to  give  you  some  insight  into 
the  rationale  of  their  development.  But  be  assured 
that  the  specimen  before  us  appertains  to  the  very 
simplest  species  of  cryptograph.  It  now  only  remains 
to  give  you  the  full  translation  of  the  characters  upon 
the  parchment,  as  unriddled.  Here  it  is  : 

"  'A  good  glass  in  the  bishop's  hostel  in  the  devil's  seat 


42  THE  Q OLD-BUG. 

forty-one  degrees  and  thirteen  minutes  northeast  and  by 
north  main  branch  seventh  limb  east  side  shoot  from  the 
left  eye  of  the  death's-head  a  bee  line  from  the  tree  through 
the  shot  fifty  feet  out.'  " 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  the  enigma  seems  still  in  as  bad  a 
condition  as  ever.  How  is  it  possible  to  extort  a  mean- 
ing from  all  this  jargon  about '  devil's  seats,'  '  death's- 
heads,'  and  '  bishop's  hotels  ? ' " 

"  I  confess,"  replied  Legrand,  "  that  the  matter  still 
wears  a  serious  aspect,  when  regarded  with  a  casual 
glance.  My  first  endeavor  was  to  divide  the  sentence 
into  the  natural  division  intended  by  the  cryptographist." 

"  You  mean  to  punctuate  it  ?  " 

"  Something  of  that  kind." 

"  But  how  was  it  possible  to  effect  this  ?  " 

"  I  reflected  that  it  had  been  a  point  with  the  writer 
to  run  his  words  together  without  division,  so  as  to 
increase  the  difficulty  of  solution.  Now,  a  not  over- 
acute  man,  in  pursuing  such  an  object,  would  be  nearly 
certain  to  overdo  the  matter.  When,  in  the  course  of 
his  composition,  he  arrived  at  a  break  in  his  subject 
which  would  naturally  require  a  pause,  or  a  point,  he 
would  be  exceedingly  apt  to  run  his  characters,  at  this 
place,  more  than  usually  close  together.  If  you  will 
observe  the  MS.  in  the  present  instance  you  will  easily 
detect  five  such  cases  of  unusual  crowding.  Acting 
upon  this  hint,  I  made  the  division  thus : 

"  'A  good  glass  in  the  bishop's  hostel  in  the  devil's  seat 
— -forty-one  degrees  and  thirteen  minutes — northeast  and 
by  north — main  branch  seventh  limb  east  side — shoot  from 
the  left  eye  of  the  death's-head — a  bee  line  from  the  tree 
through  the  shot  fifty  feet  out'  " 

"  Even  this  division,"  said  I,  "  leaves  me  still  in  the 
dark." 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  43 

"  It  left  me  also  in  the  dark,"  replied  Legrand,  "  for 
a  few  days;  during  which  I  made  diligent  inquiry, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Sullivan's  Island,  for  any  build- 
ing which  went  by  the  name  of  the  '  Bishop's  Hotel ; ' 
for,  of  course,  I  dropped  the  obsolete  word  '  hostel.' 
Gaining  no  information  on  the  subject,  I  was  on  the 
point  of  extending  my  sphere  of  search,  and  proceeding 
in  a  more  systematic  manner,  when,  one  morning  it 
entered  into  my  head,  quite  suddenly,  that  this  '  Bishop's 
Hostel '  might  have  some  reference  to  an  old  family,  of 
the  name  of  Bessop,  which,  time  out  of  mind,  had  held 
possession  of  an  ancient  manor-house,  about  four  miles 
to  the  northward  of  the  Island.  I  accordingly  went 
over  to  the  plantation,  and  reinstituted  my  inquiries 
among  the  older  negroes  of  the  place.  At  length  one  of 
the  most  aged  of  the  women  said  that  she  had  heard  of 
such  a  place  as  Bessop' s  Castle,  and  thought  that  she 
could  guide  me  to  it,  but  that  it  was  not  a  castle,  nor  a 
tavern,  but  a  high  rock. 

"  I  offered  to  pay  her  well  for  her  trouble,  and,  after 
some  demur,  she  consented  to  accompany  me  to  the 
spot.  We  found  it  without  much  difficulty,  when, 
dismissing  her,  I  proceeded  to  examine  the  place.  The 
'castle'  consisted  of  an  irregular  assemblage  of  cliffs 
and  rocks — one  of  the  latter  being  quite  remarkable  for 
its  height  as  well  as  for  its  insulated  and  artificial 
appearance.  I  clambered  to  its  apex,  and  then  felt 
much  at  a  loss  as  to  what  should  be  next  done. 

"  While  I  was  busied  in  reflection,  my  eyes  fell  upon 
a  narrow  ledge  in  the  eastern  face  of  the  rock,  perhaps 
a  yard  below  the  summit  upon  which  I  stood.  This 
ledge  projected  about  eighteen  inches,  and  was  not 
more  than  a  foot  wide,  while  a  niche  in  the  cliff  just 
above  it,  gave  it  a  rude  resemblance  to  one  of  the 


44  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

hollow-backed  chairs  used  by  our  ancestors.  I  made 
no  doubt  that  here  was  the  '  devil's  seat '  alluded  to  in 
the  MS.,  and  now  I  seemed  to  grasp  the  full  secret  of 
the  riddle. 

"  The  '  good  glass,'  I  knew,  could  have  reference  to 
nothing  but  a  telescope ;  for  the  word  '  glass '  is  rarely 
employed  in  any  other  sense  by  seamen.  Now  here,  I 
at  once  saw,  was  a  telescope  to  be  used,  and  a  definite 
point  of  view,  admitting  no  variation,  from  which  to  use 
it.  Nor  did  I  hesitate  to  believe  that  the  phrases,  '  forty- 
one  degrees  and  thirteen  minutes, '  and  '  northeast  and 
by  north, '  were  intended  as  directions  for  the  leveling 
of  the  glass.  Greatly  excited  by  these  discoveries,  I 
hurried  home,  procured  a  telescope,  and  returned  to  the 
rock. 

"  I  let  myself  down  to  the  ledge,  and  found  that  it 
was  impossible  to  retain  a  seat  upon  it  except  in  one 
particular  position.  This  fact  confirmed  my  precon- 
ceived idea.  I  proceeded  to  use  the  glass.  Of  course, 
the  'forty-one  degrees  and  thirteen  minutes'  could 
allude  to  nothing  but  elevation  above  the  visible 
horizon,  since  the  horizontal  direction  was  clearly 
indicated  by  the  words,  '  northeast  and  by  north. ' 
This  latter  direction  I  at  once  established  by  means  of 
a  pocket-compass;  then,  pointing  the  glass  as  nearly 
at  an  angle  of  forty-one  degrees  of  elevation  as  I  could 
do  it  by  guess,  I  moved  it  cautiously  up  or  down,  until 
my  attention  was  arrested  by  a  circular  rift  or  opening 
in  the  foliage  of  a  large  tree  that  overtopped  its  fellows 
in  the  distance.  In  the  centre  of  this  rift  I  perceived 
a  white  spot,  but  could  not,  at  first,  distinguish  what 
it  was.  Adjusting  the  focus  of  the  telescope,  I 
again  looked,  and  now  made  it  out  to  be  a  human 
skull. 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  45 

"Upon  this  discovery  I  was  so  sanguine  as  to  con- 
sider the  enigma  solved ;  for  the  phrase  '  main  branch, 
seventh  limb,  east  side,'  could  refer  only  to  the  position 
of  the  skull  upon  the  tree,  while  'shoot  from  the  left 
eye  of  the  death's-head,'  admitted  also  of  but  one  inter- 
pretation, in  regard  to  a  search  for  buried  treasure.  I 
perceived  that  the  design  was  to  drop  a  bullet  from  the 
left  eye  of  the  skull,  and  that  a  bee-line,  or,  in  other 
words,  a  straight  line,  drawn  from  the  nearest  point  of 
the  trunk  through  'the  shot'  (or  the  spot  where  the 
bullet  fell),  and  thence  extended  to  a  distance  of  fifty 
feet,  would  indicate  a  definite  point — and  beneath  this 
point  I  thought  it  at  least  possible  that  a  deposit  of 
value  lay  concealed." 

"All  this,"  I  said,  "is  exceedingly  clear,  and,  al- 
though ingenious,  still  simple  and  explicit.  When  you 
left  the  Bishop's  Hotel,  what  then?  " 

"Why,  having  carefully  taken  the  bearings  of  the 
tree,  I  turned  homewards.  The  instant  that  I  left  the 
'  devil's  seat,'  however,  the  circular  rift  vanished ;  nor 
could  I  get  a  glimpse  of  it  afterwards,  turn  as  I  would. 
What  seems  to  me  the  chief  ingenuity  in  this  whole 
business  is  the  fact  (for  repeated  experiment  has  con- 
vinced me  it  is  a  fact)  that  the  circular  opening  in 
question  is  visible  from  no  other  attainable  point  of  view 
than  that  afforded  by  the  narrow  ledge  upon  the  face  of 
the  rock. 

"  In  this  expedition  to  the  '  Bishop's  Hotel '  I  had 
been  attended  by  Jupiter,  who  had  no  doubt  observed 
for  some  weeks  past  the  abstraction  of  my  demeanor, 
and  took  especial  care  not  to  leave  me  alone.  But,  on 
the  next  day,  getting  up  very  early,  I  contrived  to  give 
him  the  slip,  and  went  into  the  hills  in  search  of  the 
tree.  After  much  toil  I  found  it.  When  I  came  home 


46  THE  GOLD-BUG. 

at  night  my  valet  proposed  to  give  me  a  flogging.  With 
the  rest  of  the  adventure  I  believe  you  are  as  well 
acquainted  as  myself." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  I,  "  you  missed  the  spot,  in  the  first 
attempt  at  digging,  through  Jupiter's  stupidity  in  letting 
the  bug  fall  through  the  right  instead  of  through  the 
left  eye  of  the  skull." 

"  Precisely.  This  mistake  made  a  difference  of  about 
two  inches  and  a  half  in  the  '  shot ' — that  is  to  say,  in 
the  position  of  the  peg  nearest  the  tree ;  and  had  the 
treasure  been  beneath  the  '  shot,'  the  error  would  have 
been  of  little  moment;  but  the  'shot,'  together  with 
the  nearest  point  of  the  tree,  were  merely  two  points 
for  the  establishment  of  a  line  of  direction ;  of  course 
the  error,  however  trivial  in  the  beginning,  increased  as 
we  proceeded  with  the  line;  and  by  the  time  we  had 
gone  fifty  feet,  threw  us  quite  off  the  scent.  But  for  my 
deep-seated  impressions  that  treasure  was  here  some- 
where actually  buried,  we  might  have  had  all  our  labor 
in  vain." 

"  But  your  grandiloquence,  and  your  conduct  in  swing- 
ing the  beetle — how  excessively  odd !  I  was  sure  you 
were  mad.  And  why  did  you  insist  upon  letting  fall 
the  bug,  instead  of  a  bullet,  from  the  skull  ?  " 

"  Why  to  be  frank,  I  felt  somewhat  annoyed  by  your 
evident  suspicions  touching  my  sanity,  and  so  resolved 
to  punish  you  quietly,  in  my  own  way,  by  a  little  bit 
of  sober  mystification.  For  this  reason  I  swung  the 
beetle,  and  for  this  reason  I  let  it  fall  from  the  tree. 
An  observation  of  yours  about  its  great  weight  suggested 
the  latter  idea." 

"Yes,  I  perceive;  and  now  there  is  only  one  point 
which  puzzles  me.  What  are  we  to  make  of  the  skele- 
tons found  in  the  hole  ?  " 


THE  GOLD-BUG.  47 

"That  is  a  question  I  am  no  more  able  to  answer 
than  yourself,  There  seems,  however,  only  one  plaus- 
ible way  of  accounting  for  them — and  yet  it  is  dreadful 
to  believe  in  such  atrocity  as  my  suggestion  would  im- 
ply. It  is  clear  that  Kidd — if  Kidd  indeed  secreted 
this  treasure,  which  I  doubt  not — it  is  clear  that  he 
must  have  had  assistance  in  the  labor.  But  this  labor 
concluded,  he  may  have  thought  it  expedient  to  remove 
all  participants  in  his  secret.  Perhaps  a  couple  of 
blows  with  a  mattock  were  sufficient,  while  his  coadju- 
tors were  busy  in  the  pit ;  perhaps  it  required  a  dozen — 
who  shall  tell?" 


BERENICE. 

Dicebant  mihl  sodales,  si  sepulehrum  amicse  vlsltarem,  curas  meas 
aliquantulum  fore  levatas. — EBN  ZAIAT. 

Misery  is  manifold.  The  wretchedness  of  earth  is 
multiform.  Overreaching  the  wide  horizon  as  the  rain- 
bow, its  hues  are  as  various  as  the  hues  of  that  arch,  as 
distinct  too,  yet  as  intimately  blended.  Overreaching 
the  wide  horizon  as  the  rainbow !  How  is  it  that  from 
beauty  I  have  derived  a  type  of  unloveliness  ?  from  the 
covenant  of  peace  a  simile  of  sorrow  ?  But  as  in  ethics, 
evil  is  a  consequence  of  good,  so  in  fact,  out  of  joy  is 
sorrow  born.  Either  the  memory  of  past  bliss  is  the 
anguish  of  to-day,  or  the  agonies  which  are  have  their 
origin  in  the  ecstasies  which  might  have  been. 

My  baptismal  name  is  Egseus,  that  of  my  family  I 
will  not  mention.  Yet  there  are  no  towers  in  the  land 
more  time-honored  than  my  gloomy,  gray,  hereditary- 
halls.  Our  line  has  been  called  a  race  of  visionaries ; 
and  in  many  striking  particulars — in  the  character  of 
the  family  mansion,  in  the  frescoes  of  the  chief  saloon, 
in  the  tapestries  of  the  dormitories,  in  the  chiseling  of 
some  buttresses  in  the  armory,  but  more  especially  in 
the  gallery  of  antique  paintings,  in  the  fashion  of  the 
library  chamber,  and  lastly,  in  the  very  peculiar  nature 
of  the  library's  contents — there  is  more  than  sufficient 
evidence  to  warrant  the  belief. 

The  recollections  of  my  earliest  years  are  connected 
Vol.  I.-4.  (49) 


50  BERENICE. 

with  that  chamber  and  with  its  volumes,  of  which  latter 
I  will  say  no  more.  Here  died  my  mother.  Herein  was 
I  born.  But  it  is  mere  idleness  to  say  that  I  had  not 
lived  before,  that  the  soul  has  no  previous  existence. 
You  deny  it  ?  let  us  not  argue  the  matter.  Convinced 
myself,  I  seek  not  to  convince.  There  is,  however,  a 
remembrance  of  aerial  forms,  of  spiritual  and  meaning 
eyes,  of  sounds,  musical  yet  sad ;  a  remembrance  which 
will  not  be  excluded,  a  memory  like  a  shadow,  vague, 
variable,  indefinite,  unsteady,  and  like  a  shadow,  too, 
in  the  impossibility  of  my  getting  rid  of  it  while  the 
sunlight  of  my  reason  shall  exist. 

In  that  chamber  was  I  born.  Thus  awaking  from 
the  long  night  of  what  seemed,  but  was  not  nonentity,  at 
once  into  the  very  regions  of  fairyland,  into  a  palace  of 
imagination,  into  the  wild  dominions  of  monastic  thought 
and  erudition,  it  is  not  singular  that  I  gazed  around  me 
with  a  startled  and  ardent  eye,  that  I  loitered  away  my 
boyhood  in  books,  and  dissipated  my  youth  in  reverie ; 
but  it  is  singular,  that,  as  years  rolled  away  and  the 
noon  of  manhood  found  me  still  in  the  mansion  of  my 
fathers,  it  is  wonderful  what  stagnation  there  fell  upon 
the  springs  of  my  life,  wonderful  how  total  an  inversion 
took  place  in  the  character  of  my  commonest  thought. 
The  realities  of  the  world  affected  me  as  visions,  and  as 
visions  only,  while  the  wild  ideas  of  the  land  of  dreams 
became  in  turn,  not  the  material  of  my  every-day  exist- 
ence, but  in  very  deed  that  existence  utterly  and  solely 
in  itself. 

****** 

Berenice  and  I  were  cousins,  and  we  grew  up  to- 
gether in  my  paternal  halls.  Yet  differently  we  grew 
—I,  ill  of  health  and  buried  in  gloom,  she,  agile,  grace- 
ful, and  overflowing  with  energy ;  hers  the  ramble  on 


BERENICE.  51 

the  hillside,  mine  the  studies  of  the  cloister ;  I,  living 
within  my  own  heart,  and  addicted,  body  and  soul,  to 
the  most  intense  and  painful  meditation,  she,  roaming 
carelessly  through  life  with  no  thought  of  the  shadows 
in  her  path,  or  the  silent  flight  of  the  raven-winged 
hours.  Berenice !  I  call  upon  her  name,  Berenice ! 
and  from  the  gray  ruins  of  memory  a  thousand  tumul- 
tuous recollections  are  startled  at  the  sound  !  Ah,  vividly 
is  her  image  before  me  now,  as  in  the  early  days  of  her 
light-heartedness  and  joy!  O,  gorgeous  yet  fantastic 
beauty !  O,  sylph  amid  the  shrubberies  of  Arnheim ! 
O,  Naiad  among  its  fountains !  And  then,  then  all  is 
mystery  and  terror,  and  a  tale  which  should  not  be  told. 
Disease,  a  fatal  disease,  fell  like  the  simoon  upon  her 
frame;  and  even  Avhile  I  gazed  upon  her,  the  spirit 
of  change  swept  over  her,  pervading  her  mind,  her 
habits,  and  her  character,  and  in  a  manner  the  most 
subtle  and  terrible,  disturbing  even  the  identity  of  her 
person !  Alas !  the  destroyer  came  and  went !  and  the 
victim,  where  was  she  ?  I  knew  her  not,  or  knew  her 
no  longer  as  Berenice ! 

Among  the  numerous  train  of  maladies  superinduced 
by  that  fatal  and  primary  one  which  effected  a  revolu- 
tion of  so  horrible  a  kind  in  the  moral  and  physical 
being  of  my  cousin,  may  be  mentioned  as  the  most 
distressing  and  obstinate  in  its  nature,  a  species  of 
epilepsy  not  unfrequently  terminating  in  trance  itself 
— trance  very  nearly  resembling  positive  dissolution, 
and  from  which  her  manner  of  recovery  was,  in  most 
instances,  startlingly  abrupt.  In  the  meantime,  my 
own  disease — for  I  have  been  told  that  I  should  call  it 
by  no  other  appellation — my  own  disease,  then,  grew 
rapidly  upon  me,  and  assumed  finally  a  monomaniac 
character  of  a  novel  and  extraordinary  form — hourly 


52  BERENICE. 

and  momently  gaining  vigor — and  at  length  obtain- 
ing over  me  the  most  incomprehensible  ascendency. 
This  monomania,  if  I  must  so  term  it,  consisted  in  a 
morbid  irritability  of  those  properties  of  the  mind  in 
metaphysical  science  termed  the  attentive.  It  is  more 
than  probable  that  I  am  not  understood;  but  I  fear, 
indeed,  that  it  is  in  no  manner  possible  to  convey  to 
the  mind  of  the  merely  general  reader  an  adequate 
idea  of  that  nervous  intensity  of  interest  with  which, 
in  my  case,  the  powers  of  meditation  (not  to  speak 
technically)  busied  and  buried  themselves,  in  the  con- 
templation of  even  the  most  ordinary  objects  of  the 
universe. 

To  muse  for  long  unwearied  hours,  with  my  atten- 
tion riveted  to  some  frivolous  device  on  the  margin 
or  in  the  typography  of  a  book ;  to  become  absorbed, 
for  the  better  part  of  a  summer's  day,  in  a  quaint 
shadow  falling  aslant  upon  the  tapestry  or  upon  the 
floor ;  to  lose  myself,  for  an  entire  night,  in  watching 
the  steady  flame  of  a  lamp,  or  the  embers  of  a  fire ;  to 
dream  away  whole  days  over  the  perfume  of  a  flower ; 
to  repeat  monotonously  some  common  word,  until  the 
sound,  by  dint  of  frequent  repetition,  ceased  to  con- 
vey any  idea  whatever  to  the  mind ;  to  lose  all  sense 
of  motion  or  physical  existence,  by  means  of  absolute 
bodily  quiescence  long  and  obstinately  persevered  in: 
such  were  a  few  of  the  most  common  and  least  per- 
nicious vagaries  induced  by  a  condition  of  the  mental 
faculties,  not,  indeed,  altogether  unparalleled,  but  cer- 
tainly bidding  defiance  to  anything  like  analysis  or 
explanation. 

Yet  let  me  not  be  misapprehended.  The  undue, 
earnest,  and  morbid  attention  thus  excited  by  objects 
in  their  own  nature  frivolous,  must  not  be  confounded 


BERENICE.  53 

in  character  with  that  ruminating  propensity  common 
to  all  mankind,  and  more  especially  indulged  in  by 
persons  of  ardent  imagination.  It  was  not  even,  as 
might  be  at  first  supposed,  an  extreme  condition,  or 
exaggeration  of  such  propensity,  but  primarily  and 
essentially  distinct  and  different.  In  the  one  instance, 
the  dreamer  or  enthusiast,  being  interested  by  an 
object  usually  not  frivolous,  imperceptibly  loses  sight 
of  this  object  in  a  wilderness  of  deductions  and  sugges- 
tions issuing  therefrom,  until  at  the  conclusion  of  a 
day-dream  often  replete  with  luxury,  he  finds  the  incila- 
mentum,  or  first  cause  of  his  musings,  entirely  vanished 
and  forgotten.  In  my  case,  the  primary  object  was 
invariably  frivolous,  although  assuming,  through  the 
medium  of  my  distempered  vision,  a  refracted  and 
unreal  importance.  Few  deductions,  if  any,  were 
made ;  and  those  few  pertinaciously  returning  in  upon 
the  original  object  as  a  centre.  The  meditations  were 
never  pleasurable ;  and,  at  the  determination  of  the 
reverie,  the  first  cause,  so  far  from  being  out  of  sight, 
had  attained  that  supernaturally  exaggerated  interest 
which  was  the  prevailing  feature  of  the  disease.  In  a 
word,  the  powers  of  mind  more  particularly  exercised 
were,  with  me,  as  I  have  said  before,  the  attentive,  and 
are  with  the  day-dreamer,  the  speculative. 

My  books,  at  this  epoch,  if  they  did  not  actually 
serve  to  irritate  the  disorder,  partook,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, largely,  in  their  imaginative  and  inconsequen- 
tial nature,  of  the  characteristic  qualities  of  the  disorder 
itself.  I  well  remember,  among  others,  the  treatise 
of  the  noble  Italian,  Ccelius  Secundus  Curio,  "  De 
Amplitudine  Beati  Regni  Dei;"  St.  Austin's  great 
work,  "The  City  of  God;"  and  Tertullian's  " De 
Came  Christi,"  in  which  the  paradoxical  sentence, 


64  BERENICE. 

"  Moriuus  est  Dei  fillus ;  credibile  est  quia  ineptum  est 
et  sepultus  resurrexit;  cerium  est  quia  impossibile  esi," 
occupied  my  undivided  time,  for  many  weeks  of  labori- 
ous and  fruitless  investigation. 

Thus  it  will  appear  that,  shaken  from  its  balance 
only  by  trivial  things,  ray  reason  bore  resemblance  to 
that  ocean-crag  spoken  of  by  Ptolemy  Hephsestion, 
which  steadily  resisting  the  attacks  of  human  violence, 
and  the  fiercer  fury  of  the  waters  and  the  winds, 
trembled  only  to  the  touch  of  the  flower  called  Aspho- 
del. And  although,  to  a  careless  thinker,  it  might 
appear  a  matter  beyond  doubt,  that  the  alteration  pro- 
duced by  her  unhappy  malady,  in  the  moral  condition 
of  Berenice,  would  afford  me  many  objects  for  the 
exercise  of  that  intense  and  abnormal  meditation  whose 
nature  I  have  been  at  some  trouble  in  explaining,  yet 
such  was  not  in  any  degree  the  case.  In  the  lucid 
intervals  of  my  infirmity,  her  calamity,  indeed,  gave 
me  pain,  and,  taking  deeply  to  heart  that  total  wreck 
of  her  fair  and  gentle  life,  I  did  not  fail  to  ponder 
frequently  and  bitterly  upon  the  wonder-working 
means  by  which  so  strange  a  revolution  had  been  so 
suddenly  brought  to  pass.  But  these  reflections  partook 
not  of  the  idiosyncrasy  of  my  disease,  and  were  such 
as  would  have  occurred  under  similar  circumstances 
to  the  ordinary  mass  of  mankind.  True  to  its  own 
character,  my  disorder  reveled  in  the  less  important 
but  more  startling  changes  wrought  in  the  physical 
frame  of  Berenice — in  the  singular  and  most  appalling 
distortion  of  her  personal  identity. 

During  the  brightest  days  of  her  unparalleled  beauty, 
most  surely  I  had  never  loved  her.  In  the  strange 
anomaly  oi  my  existence,  feelings  with  me  had  never 
been  of  the  heart,  and  my  passions  always  were  of  the 


BERENICE.  55 

mind.  Through  the  gray  of  the  early  morning — 
among  the  trellised  shadows  of  the  forest  at  noon-day 
— and  in  the  silence  of  my  library  at  night — she  had 
flitted  by  my  eyes,  and  I  had  seen  her — not  as  the  liv- 
ing and  breathing  Berenice,  but  as  the  Berenice  of  a 
dream ;  not  as  a  being  of  the  earth,  earthy,  but  as  the 
abstraction  of  such  a  being ;  not  as  a  thing  to  admire, 
but  to  analyze ;  not  as  an  object  of  love,  but  as  the 
theme  of  the  most  abstruse  although  desultory  specu- 
lation. And  now — now  I  shuddered  in  her  presence, 
and  grew  pale  at  her  approach ;  yet,  bitterly  lamenting 
her  fallen  and  desolate  condition,  I  called  to  mind  that 
she  had  loved  me  long,  and,  in  an  evil  moment,  I  spoke 
to  her  of  marriage. 

And  at  length  the  period  of  our  nuptials  was  ap- 
proaching, when,  upon  an  afternoon  in  the  winter  of  the 
year — one  of  these  unseasonably  warm,  calm,  and  misty 
days  which  are  the  nurse  of  the  beautiful  Halcyon* — 
I  sat  (and  sat,  as  I  thought  alone),  in  the  inner  apart- 
ment of  the  library.  But,  uplifting  my  eyes,  I  saw  that 
Berenice  stood  before  me. 

Was  it  my  own  excited  imagination — or  the  misty 
influence  of  the  atmosphere — or  the  uncertain  twilight 
of  the  chamber — or  the  gray  draperies  which  fell 
around  her  figure — that  caused  in  it  so  vacillating  and 
indistinct  an  outline  ?  I  could  not  tell.  She  spoke 
no  word ;  and  I — not  for  worlds  could  I  have  uttered  a 
syllable.  An  icy  chill  ran  through  my  frame;  a 
sense  of  insufferable  anxiety  oppressed  me ;  a  consum- 
ing curiosity  pervaded  my  soul;  and,  sinking  back 
upon  the  chair,  I  remained  for  some  time  breathless 

*  For  as  Jove,  during  the  winter  season,  gives  twice  seven  days  of 
warmth,  men  have  called  this  clement  and  temperate  time  the  nurse 
of  the  beautiful  Halcyon.—  Simonides. 


56  BERENICE. 

and  motionless,  Avith  my  eyes  riveted  upon  her  person. 
Alas !  its  emaciation  was  excessive,  and  not  one  vestige 
of  the  former  being  lurked  in  any  single  line  of  the 
contour.  My  burning  glances  at  length  fell  upon  the 
face. 

The  forehead  was  high,  and  very  pale,  and  singu- 
larly placid ;  and  the  once  jetty  hair  fell  partially 
over  it,  and  overshadowed  the  hollow  temples  with 
innumerable  ringlets,  now  of  a  vivid  yellow,  and 
jarring  discordantly,  in  their  fantastic  character,  with 
the  reigning  melancholy  of  the  countenance.  The 
eyes  were  lifeless,  and  lustreless,  and  seemingly  pupil- 
less,  and  I  shrank  involuntarily  from  their  glassy 
stare  to  the  contemplation  of  the  thin  and  shrunken 
lips.  They  parted ;  and  in  a  smile  of  peculiar  mean- 
ing, the  teeth  of  the  changed  Berenice  disclosed  them- 
selves slowly  to  my  view.  Would  to  God  that  I 
had  never  beheld  them,  or  that,  having  done  so,  I 
had  died ! 

The  shutting  of  a  door  disturbed  me,  and,  looking 
up,  I  found  that  my  cousin  had  departed  from  the 
chamber.  But  from  the  disordered  chamber  of  my 
brain  had  not,  alas !  departed,  and  would  not  be  driven 
away,  the  white  and  ghastly  spectrum  of  the  teeth. 
Not  a  speck  on  their  surface — not  a  shade  on  their 
enamel — not  an  indenture  in  their  edges — but  what 
that  brief  period  of  her  smile  had  sufficed  to  brand  it 
upon  my  memory.  I  saw  them  now  even  more  unequi- 
vocally than  I  beheld  them  then.  The  teeth ! — the 
teeth ! — they  were  here,  and  there,  and  everywhere, 
and  visibly  and  palpably  before  me  ;  long,  narrow,  and 
excessively  white,  with  the  pale  lips  writhing  about 
them,  as  in  the  very  moment  of  their  first  terrible 


BERENICE.  67 

development.  Then  came  the  full  fury  of  my  monomania 
and  I  struggled  in  vain  against  its  strange  and  irre- 
sistible influence.  In  the  multiplied  objects  of  the 
external  world  I  had  no  thoughts  but  for  the  teeth. 
For  these  I  longed  with  a  frenzied  desire.  All  other 
matters  and  all  different  interests  became  absorbed  in 
their  single  contemplation.  They — they  alone  were 
present  to  the  mental  eye,  and  they,  in  their  sole  indi- 
viduality, became  the  essence  of  my  mental  life.  I 
held  them  in  every  light.  I  turned  them  in  every 
attitude.  I  surveyed  their  characteristics.  I  dwelt 
upon  their  peculiarities.  I  pondered  upon  their  con- 
formation. I  mused  upon  the  alteration  in  their 
nature.  I  shuddered  as  I  assigned  to  them,  in  imagi- 
nation, a  sensitive  and  sentient  power,  and  even  when 
unassisted  by  the  lips,  a  capability  of  moral  expression. 
Of  Mademoiselle  Salle  it  has  been  well  said,  "  Que 
tons  ses  pas  etaient  des  sentiments,"  and  of  Berenice  I 
more  seriously  believed  que  tons  ses  dents  etaient  des 
idees.  Des  idees! — ah,  here  was  the  idiotic  thought 
that  destroyed  me!  Des  idees — ah,  therefore  it  was 
that  I  coveted  them  so  madly !  I  felt  that  their  pos- 
session could  alone  ever  restore  me  to  peace,  in  giving 
me  back  to  reason. 

And  the  evening  closed  in  upon  me  thus — and  then 
the  darkness  came,  and  tarried  and  went — and  the 
day  again  dawned — and  the  mists  of  a  second  night  were 
now  gathering  around — and  still  I  sat  motionless  in 
that  solitary  room — and  still  I  sat  buried  in  meditation, 
— and  still  the  phantasma  of  the  teeth  maintained  its 
terrible  ascendency,  as,  with  the  most  vivid  and  hideous 
distinctness,  it  floated  about  amid  the  changing  lights 
and  shadows  of  the  chamber.  At  length  there  broke 
in  upon  my  dreams  a  cry  as  of  horror  and  dismay; 


58  BERENICE. 

and  thereunto,  after  a  pause,  succeeded  the  sound  of 
troubled  voices,  intermingled  with  many  low  moanings 
of  sorrow  or  of  pain.  I  arose  from  my  seat,  and  throw- 
ing open  one  of  the  doors  of  the  library,  saw  standing 
out  in  the  ante-chamber  a  servant  maiden,  all  in  tears, 
who  told  me  that  Berenice  was  no  more !  She  had 
been  seized  with  epilepsy  in  the  early  morning,  and 
now,  at  the  closing  in  of  the  night,  the  grave  was  ready 
for  its  tenant,  and  all  the  preparations  for  the  burial 

were  completed. 

#  *  *  *  #  # 

I  found  myself  sitting  in  the  library,  and  again  sitting 
there  alone.  It  seemed  that  I  had  newly  awakened 
from  a  confused  and  exciting  dream.  I  knew  that  it 
was  now  midnight,  and  I  was  well  aware  that  since 
the  setting  of  the  sun  Berenice  had  been  interred.  But 
of  that  dreary  period  which  intervened  I  had  no  posi- 
tive, at  least  no  definite  comprehension.  Yet  its 
memory  was  replete  with  horror — horror  more  horri- 
ble from  being  vague,  and  terror  more  terrible  from 
ambiguity.  It  was  a  fearful  page  in  the  record  of  my 
existence,  written  all  over  with  dim,  and  hideous,  and 
unintelligible  recollections.  I  strived  to  decipher  them 
but  in  vain ;  while  ever  and  anon,  like  the  spirit  of 
a  departed  sound,  the  shrill  and  piercing  shriek  of  a 
female  voice  seemed  to  be  ringing  in  my  ears.  I  had 
done  a  deed — what  was  it  ?  I  asked  myself  the  question 
aloud,  and  the  whispering  echoes  of  the  chamber 
answered  me — "  What  was  it  f  " 

On  the  table  beside  me  burned  a  lamp,  and  near  it 
lay  a  little  box.  It  was  of  no  remarkable  character, 
and  I  had  seen  it  frequently  before,  for  it  was  the  prop- 
erty of  the  family  physician ;  but  how  came  it  there 
upon  my  table,  and  why  did  I  shudder  in  regarding  it  ? 


BERENICE.  59 

These  things  were  in  no  manner  to  be  accounted  for, 
and  my  eyes  at  length  dropped  to  the  open  pages  of 
a  book,  and  to  a  sentence  underscored  therein.  The 
words  were  the  singular  but  simple  ones  of  the  poet 
Ebn  Zaiat: — "  Hicebant  mihi  sodales,  si  sepulchrum 
arnicas  visitarem,  euros  meas  aliquantulwn  fore  levatas" 
Why,  then,  as  I  perused  them,  did  the  hairs  of  my 
head  erect  themselves  on  end,  and  the  blood  of  my  body 
become  congealed  within  my  veins  ? 

There  came  a  light  tap  at  the  library  door — and,  pale 
as  the  tenant  of  a  tomb,  a  menial  entered  upon  tiptoe. 
His  looks  were  wild  with  terror,  and  he  spoke  to  me  in 
a  voice  tremulous,  husky,  and  very  low.  What  said  he  ? 
— some  broken  sentences  I  heard.  He  told  of  a  wild 
cry  disturbing  the  silence  of  the  night — of  the  gathering 
together  of  the  household — of  a  search  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound ;  and  then  his  tones  grew  thrillingly  dis- 
tinct as  he  whispered  me  of  a  violated  grave — of  a 
disfigured  body  enshrouded,  yet  still  breathing — still 
palpitating — still  alive  ! 

He  pointed  to  my  garments ;  they  were  muddy  and 
clotted  with  gore.  I  spoke  not,  and  he  took  me  gently 
by  the  hand ;  it  was  indented  with  the  impress  of  human 
nails,  he  directed  my  attention  to  some  object  against  the 
wall.  I  looked  at  it  for  some  minutes :  it  was  a  spade. 
With  a  shriek  I  bounded  to  the  table,  and  grasped  the 
box  that  lay  upon  it.  But  I  could  not  force  it  open ; 
and,  in  my  tremor,  it  slipped  from  my  hands,  and  fell 
heavily,  and  burst  into  pieces ;  and  from  it,  with  a  ratt- 
ling sound,  there  rolled  out  some  instruments  of  dental 
surgery,  intermingled  with  thirty-two  small,  white,  and 
ivory-looking  substances  that  were  scattered  to  and  fro 
about  the  floor. 


ELEONORA. 

Sub  conservatione  fonnae  specificae  salva  amma. 

—RAYMOND  LULLY. 

I  am  come  of  a  race  noted  for  vigor  of  fancy  and 
ardor  of  passion.  Men  have  called  me  mad,  but  the 
question  is  not  yet  settled  whether  madness  is  or  is  not 
the  loftiest  intelligence,  whether  much  that  is  glorious, 
whether  all  that  is  profound,  does  not  spring  from 
disease  of  thought,  from  moods  of  mind  exalted  at  the 
expense  of  the  general  intellect.  They  who  dream 
by  day  are  cognizant  of  many  things  which  escape 
those  who  dream  only  by  night.  In  their  gray  visions 
they  obtain  glimpses  of  eternity,  and  thrill,  in  waking 
to  find  that  they  have  been  upon  the  verge  of  the  great 
secret.  In  snatches  they  learn  something  of  the  wisdom 
which  is  of  good,  and  more  of  the  mere  knowledge 
which  is  of  evil.  They  penetrate,  however,  rudderless 
or  compassless,  into  the  vast  ocean  of  the  "  light  inef- 
fable," and  again,  like  the  adventures  of  the  Nubian 
geographer,  "agressi  suntmare  tenebrarum,  quid  in  eo 
esset  exploraturi" 

We  will  say,  then,  that  I  am  mad.  I  grant,  at  least 
that  there  are  two  distinct  conditions  of  my  mental 
existence,  the  condition  of  a  lucid  reason  not  to  be  dis- 
puted, and  belonging  to  the  memory  of  events  forming 
the  first  epoch  of  my  life,  and  a  condition  of  shadow 
and  doubt,  appertaining  to  the  present,  and  to  the 
recollection  of  what  constitutes  the  second  great  era  of 

(61) 


62  ELEONORA. 

my  being.  Therefore,  what  I  shall  tell  of  the  earlier 
period,  believe ;  and  to  what  I  may  relate  of  the  later 
time,  give  only  such  credit  as  may  seem  due  ;  or  doubt 
it  altogether ;  or,  if  doubt  it  ye  cannot,  then  play  unto 
its  riddle  the  (Edipus. 

She  \vhom  I  loved  in  youth,  and  of  whom  I  now  pen 
calmly  and  distinctly  these  remembrances,  was  the  sole 
daughter  of  the  only  sister  of  my  mother  long  departed. 
Eleoncra  was  the  np.me  of  my  cousin.  We  had  always 
dwelt  together,  beneath  a  tropical  sun,  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Many-Colored  Grass.  No  unguided  footstep 
ever  came  upon  that  vale,  for  it  lay  far  away  up  among 
a  range  of  giant  hills  that  hung  beetling  around  about 
it,  shutting  out  the  sunlight  from  its  sweetest  recesses. 
No  path  was  trodden  in  its  vicinity ;  and  to  reach  our 
happy  home  there  was  need  of  putting  back  with  force 
the  foliage  of  many  thousands  of  forest  trees,  and  of 
crushing  to  death  the  glories  of  many  millions  of 
fragrant  flowers.  Thus  it  was  that  we  lived  all  alone, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  world  without  the  valley, — I, 
and  my  cousin,  and  her  mother. 

From  the  dim  regions  beyond  the  mountains  at  the 
upper  end  of  our  encircled  domain,  there  crept  out  a 
narrow  and  deep  river,  brighter  than  all  save  the  eyes 
of  Eleonora;  and  winding  stealthily  about  in  mazy 
courses,  it  passed  away  at  length  through  a  shadowy 
gorge,  among  hills  still  dimmer  than  those  whence  it 
had  issued.  We  called  it  the  "  River  of  Silence,"  for 
there  seemed  to  be  a  hushing  influence  in  its  flow.  No 
murmur  arose  from  its  bed,  and  so  gently  it  wandered 
along  that  the  pearly  pebbles  upon  which  we  loved  to 
gaze,  far  down  within  its  bosom,  stirred  not  at  all,  but 
lay  in  a  motionless  content,  each  in  its  own  old  station, 
shining  on  gloriously  forever. 


ELEONORA.  63 

The  margin  of  the  river,  and  of  the  many  dazzling 
rivulets  that  glided  through  devious  ways  into  its  chan- 
nel, as  well  as  the  spaces  that  extended  from  the  margins 
away  down  into  the  depths  of  the  streams  until  they 
reached  the  bed  of  pebbles  at  the  bottom,  these  spots, 
not  less  than  the  whole  surface  of  the  valley,  from  the 
river  to  the  mountains  that  girdled  it  in,  were  carpeted 
all  by  a  soft  green  grass,  thick,  short,  perfectly  even, 
and  vanilla-perfumed,  but  so  besprinkled  throughout 
with  the  yellow  buttercup,  the  white  daisy,  the  purple 
violet,  and  the  ruby-red  asphodel,  that  its  exceeding 
beauty  spoke  to  our  hearts  in  loud  tones  of  the  love  and 
of  the  glory  of  God. 

And  here  and  there,  in  groves  about  this  grass,  like 
wildernesses  of  dreams,  sprang  up  fantastic  trees,  whose 
tall  slender  stems  stood  not  upright,  but  slanted  grace- 
fully towards  the  light  that  peered  at  noon-day  into  the 
centre  of  the  valley.  Their  bark  was  speckled  with  the 
vivid  alternate  splendor  of  ebony  and  silver,  and  was 
smoother  than  all  save  the  cheeks  of  Eleonora ;  so  that 
but  for  the  brilliant  green  of  the  huge  leaves  that  spread 
from  their  summits  in  long  tremulous  lines,  dallying  with 
the  zephyrs,  one  might  have  fancied  them  giant  serpents 
of  Syria  doing  homage  to  their  sovereign  the  sun. 

Hand  in  hand  about  this  valley,  for  fifteen  years, 
roamed  I  with  Eleonora  before  love  entered  within  our 
hearts.  It  was  one  evening  at  the  close  of  the  third 
lustrum  of  her  life,  and  of  the  fourth  of  my  own,  that 
we  sat^  locked  in  each  other's  embrace,  beneath  the 
serpent-like  trees,  and  looked  down  within  the  waters 
of  the  River  of  Silence  at  our  images  therein.  We 
spoke  no  words  during  the  rest  of  that  sweet  day,  and 
our  words  even  upon  the  morrow  were  tremulous  and 
few.  We  had  drawn  the  god  Eros  from  that  wave, 


64  ELEONORA. 

and  now  we  felt  that  he  had  enkindled  within  us  the 
fiery  souls  of  our  forefathers.  The  passions  which  had 
for  centuries  distinguished  our  race  came  thronging  with 
the  fancies  for  which  they  had  been  equally  noted, 
and  together  breathed  a  delirious  bliss  over  the  Valley 
of  the  Many-Colored  Grass.  A  change  fell  upon  all 
things.  Strange,  brilliant  flowers,  star-shaped,  burst 
out  upon  the  trees  where  no  flowers  had  been  known 
before.  The  tints  of  the  green  carpet  deepened,  and 
when,  one  by  one,  the  white  daisies  shrank  away,  there 
sprang  up  in  place  of  them,  ten  by  ten  of  the  ruby-red 
asphodel.  And  life  arose  in  our  paths,  for  the  tall 
flamingo,  hitherto  unseen,  with  all  gay  glowing  birds, 
flaunted  his  scarlet  plumage  before  us.  The  golden 
and  silver  fish  haunted  the  river,  out  of  the  bosom  of 
which  issued,  little  by  little,  a  murmur  that  swelled  at 
length  into  a  lulling  melody  more  divine  than  that  of 
the  harp  of  JEolus,  sweeter  than  all  save  the  voice  of 
Eleonora.  And  now,  too,  a  voluminous  cloud,  which 
we  had  long  watched  in  the  regions  of  Hesper,  floated 
out  thence,  all  gorgeous  in  crimson  and  gold,  and 
settling  in  peace  above  us,  sank  day  by  day  lower  and 
lower  until  its  edges  rested  upon  the  tops  of  the  moun- 
tains, turning  all  their  dimness  into  magnificence,  and 
shutting  us  up  as  if  for  ever,  within  a  magic  prison- 
house  of  grandeur  and  of  glory. 

The  loveliness  of  Eleonora  was  that  of  the  Seraphim ; 
but  she  was  a  maiden  artless  and  innocent  as  the  brief 
life  she  had  led  among  the  flowers.  No  guile  disguised 
the  fervor  of  love  which  animated  her  heart,  and  she 
examined  with  me  its  inmost  recesses  as  we  walked 
together  in  the  Valley  of  the  Many-Colored  Grass,  and 
discoursed  of  the  mighty  changes  which  had  lately  taken 
place  therein. 


ELEONORA.  65 

At  length,  having  spoken  one  day,  in  tears,  of  the 
last  sad  change  which  must  befall  humanity,  she  thence- 
forward dwelt  only  upon  this  one  sorrowful  theme 
interweaving  it  into  all  our  converse,  as,  in  the  songs 
of  the  bard  of  Schiraz,  the  same  images  are  found 
occurring  again  and  again  in  every  impressive  variation 
of  phrase. 

She  had  seen  that  the  finger  of  Death  was  upon  her 
bosom — that,  like  the  ephemeron,  she  had  been  made 
perfect  in  loveliness  only  to  die ;  but  the  terrors  of  the 
grave  to  her  lay  solely  in  a  consideration  which  she 
revealed  to  me  one  evening  at  twilight  by  the  banks 
of  the  River  of  Silence.  She  grieved  to  think  that, 
having  entombed  her  in  the  Valley  of  the  Many- 
Colored  Grass,  I  would  quit  for  ever  its  happy  re- 
cesses, transferring  the  love  which  now  was  so  pas- 
sionately her  own  to  some  maiden  of  the  outer  and 
every-day  world.  And  then  and  there  I  threw  myself 
hurriedly  at  the  feet  of  Eleonora,  and  offered  up  a  vow 
to  herself  and  to  heaven,  that  I  would  never  bind 
myself  in  marriage  to  any  daughter  of  Earth — that 
I  would  in  no  manner  prove  recreant  to  her  dear 
memory,  or  to  the  memory  of  the  devout  affection  with 
which  she  had  blessed  me.  And  I  called  the  Mighty 
Ruler  of  the  Universe  to  witness  the  pious  solemnity 
of  my  vow.  And  the  curse  which  I  invoked  of  Him 
and  of  her,  a  saint  in  Elusion,  should  I  prove  traitorous 
to  that  promise,  involved  a  penalty  the  exceeding  great 
horror  of  which  will  not  permit  me  to  make  record  of 
it  here.  And  the  bright  eyes  of  Eleonora  grew  brighter 
at  my  words;  and  she  sighed  as  if  a  deadly  burthen 
had  been  taken  from  her  breast ;  and  she  trembled  and 
very  bitterly  wept;  but  she  made  acceptance  of  the 
vow  (for  what  was  she  but  a  child  ?)  and  it  made  easy 
VoL  I.-5. 


66  ELEONOEA. 

to  her  the  bed  of  her  death.  And  she  said  to  me,  not 
many  days  afterwards,  tranquilly  dying,  that,  because 
of  what  I  had  done  for  the  comfort  of  her  spirit,  she 
would  watch  over  me  in  that  spirit  when  departed, 
and,  if  so  it  were  permitted  her,  return  to  me  visibly 
in  the  watches  of  the  night ;  but,  if  this  thing  were 
indeed  beyond  the  power  of  the  souls  in  Paradise,  that 
she  would  at  least  give  me  frequent  indications  of  her 
presence ;  sighing  upon  me  in  the  evening  winds,  or 
filling  the  air  which  I  breathed  with  perfume  from  the 
censers  of  the  angels.  And,  with  these  words  upon 
her  lips,  she  yielded  up  her  innocent  life,  putting  an 
end  to  the  first  epoch  of  my  own. 

Thus  far  I  have  faithfully  said.  But  as  I  pass  the 
barrier  in  Time's  path,  formed  by  the  death  of  my 
beloved,  and  proceed  with  the  second  era  of  my  exist- 
ence, I  feel  that  a  shadow  gathers  over  my  brain,  and 
I  mistrust  the  perfect  sanity  of  the  record.  But  let 
me  on.  Years  dragged  themselves  along  heavily,  and 
still  I  dwelled  within  the  Valley  of  the  Many-Colored 
Grass ;  but  a  second  change  had  come  upon  all  things. 
The  star-shaped  flowers  shrank  into  the  stems  of  the 
trees,  and  appeared  no  more.  The  tints  of  the  green 
carpet  faded ;  and,  one  by  one,  the  ruby-red  asphodels 
withered  away ;  and  there  sprang  up,  in  place  of  them, 
ten  by  ten,  dark,  eye-like  violets,  that  writhed  uneasily 
and  were  ever  encumbered  with  dew.  And  Life  de- 
parted from  our  paths;  for  the  tall  flamingo  flaunted 
no  longer  his  scarlet  plumage  before  us,  but  flew  sadly 
from  the  vale  into  the  hills,  with  all  the  gay  glowing 
birds  that  had  arrived  in  his  company.  And  the 
golden  and  silver  fish  swam  down  through  the  gorge 
at  the  lower  end  of  our  domain  and  bedecked  the  sweet 
river  never  again.  And  the  lulling  melody  that  had 


ELEONORA.  67 

been  softer  than  the  wind-harp  of  ^Eolus,  and  more 
divine  than  all  save  the  voice  of  Eleonora,  it  died  little 
by  little  away,  in  murmurs  growing  lower  and  lower, 
until  the  stream  returned,  at  length,  utterly,  into  the 
solemnity  of  its  original  silence ;  and  then,  lastly,  the 
voluminous  cloud  uprose,  and,  abandoning  the  tops 
of  the  mountains  to  the  dimness  of  old,  fell  back  into 
the  regions  of  Hesper,  and  took  away  all  its  manifold 
golden  and  gorgeous  glories  from  the  Valley  of  the 
Many-Colored  Grass. 

Yet  the  promises  of  Eleonora  were  not  forgotten; 
for  I  heard  the  sounds  of  the  swinging  of  the  censers 
of  the  angels ;  and  streams  of  a  holy  perfume  floated 
ever  and  ever  about  the  valley ;  and  at  lone  hours,  when 
my  heart  beat  heavily,  the  winds  that  bathed  my  brow 
came  unto  me  laden  with  soft  sighs ;  and  indistinct 
murmurs  filled  often  the  night  air ;  and  once — oh,  but 
once  only !  I  was  awakened  from  a  slumber,  like  the 
slumber  of  death,  by  the  pressing  of  spiritual  lips  upon 
my  own. 

But  the  void  within  my  heart  refused,  even  thus,  to 
be  filled.  I  longed  for  the  love  which  had  before 
filled  it  to  overflowing.  At  length  the  valley  pained 
me  through  its  memories  of  Eleonora,  and  I  left  it  for 
ever  for  the  vanities  and  the  turbulent  triumphs  of  the 
world. 

I  found  myself  within  a  strange  city,  where  all 
things  might  have  served  to  blot  from  recollection  the 
sweet  dreams  I  had  dreamed  so  long  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Many-Colored  Grass.  The  pomps  and  pagean- 
tries of  a  stately  court,  and  the  mad  clangor  of  arms, 
and  the  radiant  loveliness  of  woman,  bewildered  and 
intoxicated  my  brain.  But  as  yet  my  soul  had  proved 


68  ELEONORA. 

true  to  its  vows,  and  the  indications  of  the  presence 
of  Eleonora  were  still  given  me  in  the  silent  hours  of 
the  night.  Suddenly,  these  manifestations  ceased ;  and 
the  world  grew  dark  before  mine  eyes;  and  I  stood 
aghast  at  the  burning  thoughts  which  possessed — at  the 
terrible  temptations  which  beset  me ;  for  there  came 
from  some  far,  far  distant  and  unknown  land,  into  the 
gay  court  of  the  king  I  served,  a  maiden  to  whose 
beauty  my  whole  recreant  heart  yielded  at  once — at 
whose  footstool  I  bowed  down  without  a  struggle,  in  the 
most  ardent,  in  the  most  abject  worship  of  love.  What 
indeed  was  my  passion  for  the  young  girl  of  the  valley 
in  comparison  with  the  fervor  and  the  delirium,  and  the 
spirit-lifting  ecstasy  of  adoration  with  which  I  poured 
out  my  whole  soul  in  tears  at  the  feet  of  the  ethereal 
Ermengarde  ?  Oh,  bright  was  the  seraph  Ermengarde ! 
and  in  that  knowledge  I  had  room  for  none  other.  Oh, 
divine  was  the  angel  Ermengarde !  and  as  I  looked 
down  into  the  depths  of  her  memorial  eyes,  I  thought 
only  of  them — and  of  her. 

I  wedded ; — nor  dreaded  the  curse  I  had  invoked ; 
and  its  bitterness  was  not  visited  upon  me.  And  once — 
but  once  again  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  there  came 
through  my  lattice  the  soft  sighs  which  had  forsaken 
me ;  and  they  modeled  themselves  into  a  familiar  and 
sweet  voice,  saying : 

"  Sleep  in  peace ! — for  the  Spirit  of  Love  reigneth  and 
ruleth,  and,  in  taking  to  thy  passionate  heart  her  who 
is  Ermengarde,  thou  art  absolved,  for  reasons  which 
shall  be  made  known  to  thee  in  heaven,  of  thy  vows 
unto  Eleonora." 


LIGEIA. 

And  the  will  therein  lieth,  which  dieth  not.  Who  knoweth  the 
mysteries  of  the  will,  with  its  vigor?  For  God  is  but  a  great  will  per- 
vading all  things  by  nature  of  its  intentness.  Man  doth  not  yield  him- 
self to  the  angels,  nor  unto  death  utterly,  save  only  through  the  weakness 
of  his  feeble  will.— JOSEPH  GLANVILL. 

I  cannot,  for  my  soul,  remember  how,  when,  or  even 
precisely  where,  I  first  became  acquainted  with  the 
lady  Ligeia.  Long  years  have  since  elapsed,  and  my 
memory  is  feeble  through  much  suffering.  Or,  perhaps, 
I  cannot  now  bring  these  points  to  mind,  because, 
in  truth,  the  character  of  my  beloved,  her  rare  learn- 
ing, her  singular  yet  placid  caste  of  beauty,  and  the 
thrilling  and  enthralling  eloquence  of  her  low  musical 
language,  made  their  way  into  my  heart,  by  paces  so 
steadily  and  stealthily  progressive,  that  they  have  been 
unnoticed  and  unknown.  Yet  I  believe  that  I  met  her 
first  and  most  frequently  in  some  large,  old,  decaying 
city  near  the  Rhine.  Of  her  family  I  have  surely 
heard  her  speak.  That  it  is  of  a  remotely  ancient  date 
cannot  be  doubted.  Ligeia !  Ligeia !  Buried  in  studies 
of  a  nature  more  than  all  else  adapted  to  deaden 
impressions  of  the  outward  world,  it  is  by  that  sweet 
word  alone,  by  Ligeia,  that  I  bring  before  mine  eyes 
in  fancy  the  image  of  her  who  is  no  more.  And  now, 
while  I  write,  a  recollection  flashes  upon  me  that  I 
have  never  known  the  paternal  name  of  her  who  was 
my  friend  and  my  betrothed,  and  who  became  the 
(69) 


70  LIGE1A. 

partner  of  my  studies,  and  finally  the  wife  of  my  bosom. 
Was  it  a  playful  charge  on  the  part  of  my  Ligeia?  or 
was  it  a  test  of  my  strength  of  affection,  that  I  should 
institute  no  inquiries  upon  this  point  ?  or  was  it  rather 
a  caprice  of  my  own,  a  wildly  romantic  offering  on  the 
shrine  of  the  most  passionate  devotion?  I  but  indis- 
tinctly recall  the  fact  itself,  what  wonder  that  I  have 
utterly  forgotten  the  circumstances  which  originated  or 
attended  it !  And  indeed  if  ever  that  spirit  which  is 
entitled  Romance,  if  ever  she,  the  wan  and  the  misty- 
winged  Ashtophet  of  Idolatrous  Egypt,  presided,  as  they 
tell,  over  marriages  ill-omened,  then  most  surely  she 
presided  over  mine. 

There  is  one  dear  topic,  however,  on  which  my 
memory  fails  me  not.  It  is  the  person  of  Ligeia.  In 
stature  she  was  tall,  somewhat  slender,  and  in  her 
latter  days,  even  emaciated.  I  would  in  vain  attempt 
to  portray  the  majesty,  the  quiet  ease  of  her  demeanor, 
or  the  incomprehensible  lightness  and  elasticity  of 
her  footfall.  She  came  and  departed  as  a  shadow.  I 
was  never  made  aware  of  her  entrance  into  my  closed 
study,  save  by  the  dear  music  of  her  low  sweet  voice, 
as  she  placed  her  marble  hand  upon  my  shoulder.  In 
beauty  of  face  no  maiden  ever  equaled  her.  It  was 
the  radiance  of  an  opium  dream,  an  airy  and  spirit- 
lifting  vision  more  wildly  divine  than  the  phantasies 
which  hovered  about  the  slumbering  souls  of  the 
daughters  of  Delos.  Yet  her  features  were  not  of  that 
regular  mould  which  we  have  been  falsely  taught  to  wor- 
ship in  the  classical  labors  of  the  heathen.  "  There  is 
no  exquisite  beauty,"  says  Bacon,  Lord  Verulam,  speak- 
ing truly  of  all  the  forms  and  genera  of  beauty, "  without 
some  strangeness  in  the  proportion."  Yet,  although  I 
saw  that  the  features  of  Ligeia  were  not  of  a  classic 


LIGEIA.  71 

regularity,  although  I  perceived  that  her  loveliness  was 
indeed  "  exquisite,"  and  felt  that  there  was  much  of 
"  strangeness  "  pervading  it,  yet  I  have  tried  in  vain  to 
detect  the  irregularity  and  to  trace  home  my  own  per- 
ception of  "  the  strange."  I  examined  the  contour  of 
the  lofty  and  pale  forehead — it  was  faultless;  how 
cold  indeed  that  word  when  applied  to  a  majesty  so 
divine!  the  skin  rivaling  the  purest  ivory,  the  com- 
manding extent  and  repose,  the  gentle  prominence  of 
the  regions  above  the  temples ;  and  then  the  raven- 
black,  the  glossy,  the  luxuriant  and  naturally-curling 
tresses,  setting  forth  the  full  force  of  the  Homeric 
epithet  "  hyacinthine !  "  I  looked  at  the  delicate  outlines 
of  the  nose,  and  nowhere  but  in  the  graceful  medall- 
ions of  the  Hebrews  had  I  beheld  a  similar  perfection. 
There  were  the  same  luxurious  smoothness  of  surface, 
the  same  scarcely  perceptible  tendency  to  the  aquiline, 
the  same  harmoniously  curved  nostrils  speaking  the 
free  spirit.  I  regarded  the  sweet  mouth.  Here  was 
indeed  the  triumph  of  all  things  heavenly,  the  magnifi- 
cent turn  of  the  short  upper  lip,  the  soft,  voluptuous 
slumber  of  the  under,  the  dimples  which  sported,  and 
the  color  which  spoke,  the  teeth  glancing  back,  with  a 
brilliancy  almost  startling,  every  ray  of  the  holy  light 
which  fell  upon  them  in  her  serene  and  placid,  yet  most 
exultingly  radiant  of  all  smiles.  I  scrutinized  the  for- 
mation of  the  chin — and  here,  too,  I  found  the  gentleness 
of  breadth,  the  softness  and  the  majesty,  the  fullness  and 
the  spirituality  of  the  Greek — the  contour  which  the 
god  Apollo  revealed  but  in  a  dream  to  Cleomenes,  the 
son  of  the  Athenian.  And  then  I  peered  into  the  large 
eyes  of  Ligeia. 

For  eyes  we  have  no  models  in  the  remotely  antique. 
It  might  have  been,  too,  that  in  these  eyes  of  my 


72  LIOEIA. 

beloved  lay  the  secret  to  which  Lord  Verulam  alludes. 
They  were,  I  must  believe,  far  larger  than  the  ordinary 
eyes  of  our  own  race.  They  were  even  fuller  than  the 
fullest  of  the  gazelle  eyes  of  the  tribe  of  the  valley  of 
Nourjahad.  Yet  it  was  only  at  intervals — in  moments 
of  intense  excitement — that  this  peculiarity  became 
more  than  slightly  noticeable  in  Ligeia.  And  at  such 
moments  was  her  beauty — in  my  heated  fancy  thus  it 
appeared  perhaps — the  beauty  of  beings  either  above 
or  apart  from  the  earth — the  beauty  of  the  fabulous 
Houri  of  the  Turk.  The  hue  of  the  orbs  was  the  most 
brilliant  of  black,  and  far  over  them  hung  jetty  lashes 
of  great  length.  The  brows,  slightly  irregular  in  out- 
line, had  the  same  tint.  The  "  strangeness,"  however, 
which  I  found  in  the  eyes,  was  of  a  nature  distinct  from 
the  formation,  or  the  color,  or  the  brilliancy  of  the 
features,  and  must  after  all,  be  referred  to  the  expression. 
Ah,  word  of  no  meaning !  behind  whose  vast  latitude 
of  mere  sound  we  intrench  our  ignorance  of  so  much  of 
the  spiritual.  The  expression  of  the  eyes  of  Ligeia ! 
How  for  long  hours  have  I  pondered  upon  it !  How 
have  I  through  the  whole  of  a  midsummer  night  strug- 
gled to  fathom  it !  What  was  it — that  something  more 
profound  than  the  well  of  Democritus — which  lay  far 
within  the  pupils  of  my  beloved  ?  What  was  it  ?  I 
was  possessed  with  a  passion  to  discover.  Those  eyes ! 
those  large,  those  shining,  those  divine  orbs !  they  be- 
came to  me  twin  stars  of  Leda,  and  I  to  them  devoutest 
of  astrologers. 

There  is  no  point  among  the  many  incomprehensible 
anomalies  of  the  science  of  mind  more  thrillingly  ex- 
citing than  the  fact — never,  I  believe,  noticed  in  the 
schools — that  in  our  endeavors  to  recall  to  memory 
something  long  forgotten,  we  often  find  ourselves  upon 


UGEIA.  73 

the  very  verge  of  remembrance,  without  being  able  in 
the  end  to  remember.  And  thus  how  frequently,  in 
my  intense  scrutiny  of  Ligeia's  eyes,  have  I  felt 
approaching  the  full  knowledge  of  their  expression — 
felt  it  approaching — yet  not  quite  be  mine — and  so  at 
length  entirely  depart !  And  (strange,  oh  strangest 
mystery  of  all !)  I  found  in  the  commonest  objects  of 
the  universe  a  circle  of  analogies  to  that  expression. 
I  mean  to  say  that,  subsequently  to  the  period  when 
Ligeia's  beauty  passed  into  my  spirit,  there  dwelling  as 
in  a  shrine,  I  derived,  from  many  existences  in  the 
material  world,  a  sentiment  such  as  I  felt  always 
around,  within  me,  by  her  large  and  luminous  orbs. 
Yet  not  the  more  could  I  define  that  sentiment,  or 
analyze,  or  even  steadily  view  it.  I  recognized  it,  let 
me  repeat,  sometimes  in  the  survey  of  a  rapidly-grow- 
ing vine,  in  the  contemplation  of  a  moth,  a  butterfly, 
a  chrysalis,  a  stream  of  running  water.  I  have  felt  it 
in  the  ocean,  in  the  falling  of  a  meteor.  I  have  felt 
it  in  the  glances  of  unusually  aged  people.  And  there 
are  one  or  two  stars  in  heaven  (one  especially  a  star 
of  the  sixth  magnitude,  double  and  changeable,  to  be 
found  near  the  large  star  in  Lyra)  in  a  telescopic 
scrutiny  of  which  I  have  been  made  aware  of  the 
feeling.  I  have  been  filled  with  it  by  certain  sounds 
from  stringed  instruments,  and  not  unfrequently  by 
passages  from  books.  Among  innumerable  other 
instances,  I  well  remember  something  in  a  volume  of 
Joseph  Glanvill,  which  (perhaps  merely  from  its 
quaintness,  who  shall  say?)  never  failed  to  inspire 
me  with  the  sentiment:  "And  the  will  therein  lieth, 
which  dieth  not.  Who  knoweth  the  mysteries  of  the 
will  with  its  vigor?  For  God  is  but  a  great  will 
pervading  all  things  by  nature  of  its  intentness.  Man 


74  LIGEIA. 

doth  not  yield  him  to  the  angels,  nor  unto  death  utterly, 
save  only  through  the  weakness  of  his  feeble  will." 

Length  of  years  and  subsequent  reflection  have 
enabled  me  to  trace,  indeed,  some  remote  connection 
between  this  passage  in  the  English  moralist  and  a 
portion  of  the  character  of  Ligeia.  An  intensity  in 
thought,  action,  or  speech,  was  possibly  in  her  a 
result,  or  at  least  an  index,  of  that  gigantic  volition 
which,  during  our  long  intercourse,  failed  to  give  other 
and  more  immediate  evidence  of  its  existence.  Of 
all  the  women  whom  I  have  ever  known,  she,  the 
outwardly  calm,  the  ever-placid  Ligeia,  was  the  most 
violently  a  prey  to  the  tumultuous  vultures  of  stern 
passion.  And  of  such  passion  I  could  form  no  esti- 
mate, save  by  the  miraculous  expansion  of  those  eyes 
which  at  once  so  delighted  and  appalled  me,  by  the 
almost  magical  melody,  modulation,  distinctness,  and 
placidity  of  her  very  low  voice,  and  by  the  fierce 
energy  (rendered  doubly  effective  by  contrast  with  her 
manner  of  utterance)  of  the  wild  words  which  she 
habitually  uttered. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  learning  of  Ligeia:  it  was 
immense — such  as  I  have  never  known  in  woman.  In 
the  classical  tongues  was  she  deeply  proficient,  and  as 
far  as  my  own  acquaintance  extended  in  regard  to  the 
modern  dialects  of  Europe,  I  have  never  known  her 
at  fault.  Indeed  upon  any  theme  of  the  most  admired, 
because  simply  the  most  abstruse  of  the  boasted  erudi- 
tion of  the  academy,  have  I  ever  found  Ligeia  at  fault ! 
How  singularly,  how  thrillingly,  this  one  point  in  the 
nature  of  my  wife  has  forced  itself,  at  this  late  period 
only  upon  my  attention!  I  said  her  knowledge  was 
such  as  I  have  never  known  in  woman,  but  where 
breathes  the  man  who  has  traversed,  and  successfully, 


LIGEIA.  75 

all  the  wide  areas  of  moral,  physical,  and  mathematical 
science  ?  I  saw  not  then  what  I  now  clearly  perceive, 
that  the  acquisitions  of  Ligeia  were  gigantic,  were  aston- 
ishing ;  yet  I  was  sufficiently  aware  of  her  infinite  su- 
premacy to  resign  myself,  with  a  child-like  confidence,  to 
her  guidance  through  the  chaotic  world  of  metaphysical 
investigation  at  which  I  was  most  busily  occupied  during 
the  earlier  years  of  our  marriage.  With  how  vast  a  tri- 
umph— with  how  vivid  a  delight — with  how  much  of  all 
that  is  ethereal  in  hope,  did  I  feel,  as  she  bent  over  me  in 
studies  but  little  sought — but  less  known— that  delicious 
vista  by  slow  degrees  expanding  before  me,  down  whose 
long,  gorgeous,  and  all  untrodden  path,  I  might  at  length 
pass  onward  to  the  goal  of  a  wisdom  too  divinely  precious 
not  to  be  forbidden ! 

How  poignant,  then,  must  have  been  the  grief  with 
which,  after  some  years,  I  beheld  my  well-grounded 
expectations  take  wings  to  themselves  and  fly  away! 
Without  Ligeia  I  was  but  as  a  child  groping  benighted. 
Her  presence,  her  readings  alone,  rendered  vividly 
luminous  the  many  mysteries  of  the  transcendentalism 
in  which  we  were  immersed.  Wanting  the  radiant 
lustre  of  her  eyes,  letters,  lambent  and  golden,  grew 
duller  than  Saturnian  lead.  And  now  those  eyes 
shone  less  and  less  frequently  upon  the  pages  over 
which  I  pored.  Ligeia  grew  ill.  The  wild  eyes  blazed 
with  a  too — too  glorious  effulgence ;  the  pale  fingers 
became  of  the  transparent  waxen  hue  of  the  grave ; 
and  the  blue  veins  upon  the  lofty  forehead  swelled  and 
sank  impetuously  with  the  tides  of  the  most  gentle 
emotion.  I  saw  that  she  must  die — and  I  struggled 
desperately  in  spirit  with  the  grim  Azrael.  And  the 
struggles  of  the  passionate  wife  were,  to  my  astonish- 
ment, even  more  energetic  than  my  own.  There  had 


76  LIGEIA. 

been  much  in  her  stern  nature  to  impress  me  with  the 
belief  that,  to  her,  death  would  have  come  without  its 
terrors,  but  not  so.  Words  are  impotent  to  convey 
any  just  idea  of  the  fierceness  of  resistance  with  which 
she  wrestled  with  the  Shadow.  I  groaned  in  anguish 
at  the  pitiable  spectacle.  I  would  have  soothed,  I 
would  have  reasoned ;  but  in  the  intensity  of  her  wild 
desire  for  life — for  life — but  for  life — solace  and  reason 
were  alike  the  uttermost  of  folly.  Yet  not  until  the 
last  instance,  amid  the  most  convulsive  writhings  of 
her  fierce  spirit,  was  shaken  the  external  placidity  of 
her  demeanor.  Her  voice  grew  more  gentle — grew 
more  low — yet  I  would  not  wish  to  dwell  upon  the 
wild  meaning  of  the  quietly  uttered  words.  My  brain 
reeled  as  I  hearkened,  entranced,  to  a  melody  more 
than  mortal — to  assumptions  and  aspirations  which  mor- 
tality had  never  before  known. 

That  she  loved  me  I  should  not  have  doubted ;  and 
I  might  have  been  easily  aware  that,  in  a  bosom  such 
as  hers,  love  would  have  reigned  no  ordinary  passion. 
But  in  death  only  was  I  fully  impressed  with  the 
strength  of  her  affection.  For  long  hours,  detaining 
my  hand,  would  she  pour  out  before  me  the  overflow- 
ing of  a  heart  whose  more  than  passionate  devotion 
amounted  to  idolatry.  How  had  I  deserved  to  be  so 
blessed  by  such  confessions? — how  had  I  deserved  to 
be  so  cursed  with  the  removal  of  my  beloved  in  the 
hour  of  her  making  them?  But  upon  this  subject  I 
cannot  bear  to  dilate.  Let  me  say  only,  that  in  Ligeia's 
more  than  womanly  abandonment  to  a  love,  alas!  all 
unmerited,  all  unworthily  bestowed,  I  at  length  recog- 
nized the  principle  of  her  longing,  with  so  wildly 
earnest  a  desire,  for  the  life  which  was  now  fleeing  so 
rapidly  away.  It  is  this  wild  longing — it  is  this  eager 


LIGEIA.  77 

vehemence  of  desire  for  life — but  for  life — that  I  have  no 
power  to  portray — no  utterance  capable  of  expressing. 

At  high  noon  of  the  night  in  which  she  departed, 
beckoning  me  peremptorily  to  her  side,  she  bade  me 
repeat  certain  verses  composed  by  herself  not  many  days 
before.  I  obeyed  her.  They  were  these : 

Lo  !  'tis  a  gala  night 

Withiu  the  lonesome  latter  years ! 
An  angel  throng,  bewingerl,  bedight 

In  veils,  and  drowned  iu  tears, 
Sit  in  a  theatre,  to  see 

A  play  of  hopes  and  fears, 
While  the  orchestra  breathes  fitfully 

The  music  of  the  spheres. 
Mimes,  in  the  form  of  God  on  high, 

Mutter  and  mumble  low, 
And  hither  and  thither  fly ; 

Mere  puppets  they,  who  come  and  go 
At  bidding  of  vast  formless  things 

That  shift  the  scenery  to  and  fro, 
Flapping  from  out  their  Condor  wings 

Invisible  Woe ! 
That  motley  drama ! — Oh,  be  sure 

It  shall  not  be  forgot  I 
With  its  Phantom  chased  for  evermore, 

By  a  crowd  that  seize  it  not, 
Through  a  circle  that  ever  returneth  in 

To  the  self-same  spot ; 
And  much  of  Madness  and  more  of  Sin 

And  Horror,  the  soul  of  the  plot 
But  see,  amid  the  mimic  rout 

A  crawling  shape  intrude  ! 
A  blood-red  thing  that  writhes  from  out 

The  scenic  solitude ! 
It  writhes ! — it  writhes ! — with  mortal  pangs 

The  mimes  become  its  food, 
And  the  seraphs  sob  at  vermin  fangs 

In  human  gore  imbued. 
Out — out  are  the  lights— out  all ! 

And  over  each  quivering  form 
The  curtain,  a  funeral  pall, 

Comes  down  with  the  rush  of  a  storm— 
And  the  angels  all  pallid  and  wan, 

Uprising  unveiling,  affirm 
That  the  play  is  the  tragedy,  "  Man," 

And  its  hero,  the  Conqueror  Worm. 


78  LIGEIA. 

"  O  God  !  "  half  shrieked  Ligeia,  leaping  to  her  feet 
and  extending  her  arms  aloft  with  a  spasmodic  move- 
ment, as  I  made  an  end  of  these  lines — "  O  God  !  O 
Divine  Father !  shall  these  things  be  undeviatingly  so  ? 
Shall  this  conqueror  be  not  once  conquered?  Are  we 
not  part  and  parcel  in  Thee  ?  Who — who  knoweth  the 
mysteries  of  the  will  with  its  vigor?  Man  doth  not 
yield  him  to  the  angels,  nor  unto  death  utterly,  save  only 
through  the  weakness  of  his  feeble  will." 

And  now,  as  if  exhausted  with  emotion,  she  suffered 
her  white  arms  to  fall,  and  returned  solemnly  to  her 
bed  of  death.  And  as  she  breathed  her  last  sighs  there 
came  mingled  with  them  a  low  murmur  from  her  lips. 
I  bent  to  them  my  ear,  and  distinguished,  again,  the 
concluding  words  of  the  passage  in  Glanvill : — "  Man 
doth  not  yield  him  to  the  angels  nor  unto  death  utterly,  save 
only  through  the  weakness  of  his  feeble  will" 

She  died,  and  I,  crushed  into  the  very  dust  with 
sorrow,  could  no  longer  endure  the  lonely  desolation 
of  my  dwelling  in  the  dim  and  decaying  city  by  the 
Rhine.  I  had  no  lack  of  what  the  world  calls  wealth. 
Ligeia  had  brought  me  far  more,  very  far  more,  than 
ordinarily  falls  to  the  lot  of  mortals.  After  a  few 
months  therefore  of  weary  and  aimless  wandering,  I 
purchased,  and  put  in  some  repair,  an  abbey,  which  I 
shall  not  name,  in  one  of  the  wildest  and  least  fre- 
quented portions  of  fair  England.  The  gloomy  and 
dreary  grandeur  of  the  building,  the  almost  savage 
aspect  of  the  domain,  the  many  melancholy  and  time- 
honored  memories  connected  with  both,  had  much 
in  unison  with  the  feelings  of  utter  abandonment 
which  had  driven  me  into  that  remote  and  unsocial 
region  of  the  country.  Yet,  although  the  external 


LIGEIA.  79 

abbey,  with  its  verdant  decay  hanging  about  it,  suf- 
fered but  little  alteration,  I  gave  way,  with  a  child- 
like perversity,  and  perchance  with  a  faint  hope  of 
alleviating  my  sorrows,  to  a  display  of  more  than  regal 
magnificence  within.  For  such  follies,  even  in  child- 
hood, I  had  imbibed  a  taste,  and  now  they  came  back 
to  me  as  if  in  the  dotage  of  grief.  Alas,  I  feel  how 
much  even  of  incipient  madness  might  have  been  dis- 
covered in  the  gorgeous  and  fantastic  draperies,  in  the 
solemn  carvings  of  Egypt,  in  the  wild  cornices  and 
furniture,  in  the  Bedlam  patterns  of  the  carpets  of 
tufted  gold!  I  had  become  a  bounden  slave  in  the 
trammels  of  opium,  and  my  labors  and  my  orders 
had  taken  a  coloring  from  my  dreams.  But  these 
absurdities  I  must  not  pause  to  detail.  Let  me  speak 
only  of  that  one  chamber,  ever  accursed,  whither  in  a 
moment  of  mental  alienation  I  fled  from  the  altar  as 
my  bride — as  the  successor  of  the  unforgotten  Ligeia 
• — the  fair-haired  and  blue-eyed  Lady  Bowena  Tre- 
vanion  of  Tremaine. 

There  is  no  individual  portion  of  the  architecture 
and  decoration  of  that  bridal  chamber  which  is  not 
now  visibly  before  me.  Where  were  the  souls  of  the 
haughty  family  of  the  bride,  when,  through  thirst  of 
gold,  they  permitted  to  pass  the  threshold  of  an  apart- 
ment so  bedecked,  a  maiden  and  a  daughter  so  beloved  ? 
I  have  said  that  I  minutely  remember  the  details  of 
the  chamber,  yet  I  am  sadly  forgetful  on  topics  of 
deep  moment,  and  here  there  was  no  system,  no  keep- 
ing, in  the  fantastic  display,  to  take  hold  upon  the 
memory.  The  room  lay  in  a  high  turret  of  the  castel- 
lated abbey,  was  pentagonal  in  shape,  and  of  capacious 
size.  Occupying  the  whole  southern  face  of  the  pen- 
tagon was  the  sole  window,  an  immense  sheet  of 


80  LIOEIA. 

unbroken  glass  from  Venice, — a  single  pane,  and  tinted 
of  a  leaden  hue,  so  that  the  rays  of  either  the  sun  or 
moon  passing  through  it  fell  with  a  ghastly  lustre  on 
the  objects  within.  Over  the  upper  portion  of  this 
huge  window  extended  the  trellis-work  of  an  aged 
vine  which  clambered  up  the  massy  walls  of  the  turret. 
The  ceiling,  of  gloomy-looking  oak,  was  excessively 
lofty,  vaulted,  and  elaborately  fretted  with  the  wildest 
and  most  grotesque  specimens  of  a  semi-Gothic,  semi- 
Druidical  device.  From  out  the  most  central  recess  of 
this  melancholy  vaulting,  depended  by  a  single  chain 
of  gold  with  long  links,  a  huge  censer  of  the  same 
metal,  Saracenic  in  pattern,  and  with  many  perfora- 
tions so  contrived  that  there  writhed  in  and  out,  as  if 
endued  with  a  serpent  vitality,  a  continual  succession  of 
parti-colored  fires. 

Some  few  ottomans  and  golden  candelabra,  of  East- 
ern figure,  were  in  various  stations  about,  and  there 
was  the  couch,  too,  the  bridal  couch,  of  an  Indian 
model,  and  low,  and  sculptured  of  solid  ebony,  with  a 
pall-like  canopy  above.  In  each  of  the  angles  of  the 
chamber  stood  on  end  a  gigantic  sarcophagus  of  black 
granite,  from  the  tombs  of  the  kings  over  against 
Luxor,  with  their  aged  lids  full  of  immemorial  sculp- 
ture. But  in  the  draping  of  the  apartment  lay,  alas ! 
the  chief  phantasy  of  all.  The  lofty  walls,  gigantic  in 
height,  even  unproportionably  so,  were  hung  from 
summit  to  foot  in  vast  folds  with  a  heavy  and  massive- 
looking  tapestry — tapestry  of  a  material  which  was 
found  alike  as  a  carpet  on  the  floor,  as  a  covering  for 
the  ottomans  and  the  ebony  bed,  as  a  canopy  for  the 
bed,  and  as  the  gorgeous  volutes  of  the  curtains  which 
partially  shaded  the  window.  The  material  was  the 
richest  cloth  of  gold.  It  was  spotted  all  over,  at 


LIGEIA.  81 

irregular  intervals,  with  arabesque  figures  about  a  foot 
in  diameter,  and  wrought  upon  the  cloth  in  patterns 
of  the  most  jetty  black.  But  these  figures  partook  of 
the  true  character  of  the  arabesque  only  when  regarded 
from  a  single  point  of  view.  By  a  contrivance  now 
common,  and  indeed  traceable  to  a  very  remote  period 
of  antiquity,  they  were  made  changeable  in  aspect. 
To  one  entering  the  room  they  bore  the  appearance  of 
simple  monstrosities,  but  upon  a  farther  advance  this 
appearance  gradually  departed,  and,  step  by  step,  as 
the  visitor  moved  his  station  in  the  chamber,  he  saw 
himself  surrounded  by  an  endless  succession  of  the 
ghastly  forms  which  belong  to  the  superstition  of  the 
Norman,  or  arise  in  the  guilty  slumbers  of  the  monk. 
The  phantasmagoric  effect  was  vastly  heightened  by 
the  artificial  introduction  of  a  strong  continual  current 
of  wind  behind  the  draperies,  giving  a  hideous  and 
uneasy  animation  to  the  whole. 

In  halls  such  as  these,  in  a  bridal  chamber  such  as 
this,  I  passed  with  the  Lady  of  Tremaine  the  unhal- 
lowed hours  of  the  first  month  of  our  marriage,  passed 
them  with  but  little  disquietude.  That  my  wife 
dreaded  the  fierce  moodiness  of  my  temper,  that  she 
shunned  me,  and  loved  me  but  little,  I  could  not  help 
perceiving,  but  it  gave  me  rather  pleasure  than  other- 
wise. I  loathed  her  with  a  hatred  belonging  more  to 
demon  than  to  man.  My  memory  flew  back  (oh, 
with  what  intensity  of  regret ! )  to  Ligeia,  the  beloved, 
the  august,  the  beautiful,  the  entombed.  I  reveled  in 
recollections  of  her  purity,  of  her  wisdom,  of  her  lofty, 
her  ethereal  nature,  of  her  passionate,  her  idolatrous 
love.  Now,  then,  did  my  spirit  fully  and  freely  burn 
with  more  than  all  the  fires  of  her  own.  In  the  excite- 
ment of  my  opium  dreams  (for  I  was  habitually  fettered 

Vol.  I.-6. 


82  LIGEIA. 

in  the  shackles  of  the  drug)  I  would  call  aloud  upon 
her  name  during  the  silence  of  the  night,  or  among  the 
sheltered  recesses  of  the  glens  by  day,  as  if,  through 
the  wild  eagerness,  the  solemn  passion,  the  consuming 
ardor  of  my  longing  for  the  departed,  I  could  restore 
her  to  the  pathway  she  had  abandoned — ah,  could  it  be 
for  ever  ?  upon  the  earth. 

About  the  commencement  of  the  second  month  of 
the  marriage,  the  Lady  Rowena  was  attacked  with 
sudden  illness,  from  which  her  recovery  was  slow. 
The  fever  which  consumed  her  rendered  her  nights 
uneasy ;  and  in  her  perturbed  state  of  half-slumber  she 
spoke  of  sounds  and  of  motions  in  and  about  the 
chamber  of  the  turret,  which  I  concluded  had  no 
origin  save  in  the  distemper  of  her  fancy,  or  perhaps 
in  the  phantasmagoric  influences  of  the  chamber  itself. 
She  became  at  length  convalescent — finally,  well.  Yet 
but  a  brief  period  elapsed,  ere  a  second  more  violent 
disorder  again  threw  her  upon  a  bed  of  suffering ;  and 
from  this  attack  her  frame,  at  all  times  feeble,  never 
altogether  recovered.  Her  illnesses  were,  after  this 
epoch,  of  alarming  character,  and  of  more  alarming 
recurrence,  defying  alike  the  knowledge  and  the  great 
exertions  of  her  physicians.  With  the  increase  of  the 
chronic  disease  which  had  thus,  apparently,  taken  too 
sure  hold  upon  her  constitution  to  be  eradicated  by 
human  means,  I  could  not  fail  to  observe  a  similar 
increase  in  the  nervous  irritation  of  her  temperament, 
and  in  her  excitability  by  trivial  causes  of  fear.  She 
spoke  again,  and  now  more  frequently  and  pertina- 
ciously, of  the  sounds — of  the  slight  sounds — and  of  the 
unusual  motions  among  the  tapestries,  to  which  she  had 
formerly  alluded. 

One   night,   near   the   closing  in  of  September,  she 


LIGEIA.  83 

pressed  this  distressing  subject  with  more  tnan  usual 
emphasis  upon  my  attention.  She  had  just  awakened 
from  an  unquiet  slumber,  and  I  had  been  watching, 
with  feelings  half  of  anxiety,  half  of  vague  terror,  the 
workings  of  her  emaciated  countenance.  I  sat  by  the 
side  of  her  ebony  bed,  upon  one  of  the  ottomans  of 
India.  She  partly  arose,  and  spoke,  in  an  earnest  low 
whisper,  of  sounds  which  she  then  heard,  but  which  I 
could  not  hear — of  motions  which  she  then  saw,  but 
which  I  could  not  perceive.  The  wind  was  rushing 
hurriedly  behind  the  tapestries,  and  I  wished  to  show 
her  (what,  let  me  confess  it,  I  could  not  all  believe) 
that  those  almost  inarticulate  breathings,  and  those 
very  gentle  variations  of  the  figures  upon  the  wall, 
were  but  the  natural  effects  of  that  customary  rushing 
of  the  wind.  But  a  deadly  pallor  overspreading  her 
face,  had  proved  to  me  that  my  exertions  to  reassure 
her  would  be  fruitless.  She  appeared  to  be  fainting, 
and  no  attendants  were  within  call.  I  remembered 
where  was  deposited  a  decanter  of  light  wine  which  had 
been  ordered  by  her  physicians,  and  hastened  across  the 
chamber  to  procure  it.  But,  as  I  stepped  beneath 
the  light  of  the  censer,  two  circumstances  of  a  startling 
nature  attracted  my  attention.  I  felt  that  some  pal- 
pable although  invisible  object  had  passed  lightly  by 
my  person ;  and  I  saw  that  there  lay  upon  the  golden 
carpet,  in  the  very  middle  of  the  rich  lustre  thrown 
from  the  censer,  a  shadow — a  faint,  indefinite  shadow 
of  angelic  aspect — such  as  might  be  fancied  for  the 
shadow  of  a  shade.  But  I  was  wild  with  the  excitement 
of  an  immoderate  dose  of  opium,  and  heeded  these 
things  but  little,  nor  spoke  of  them  to  Rowena.  Having 
found  the  wine,  I  recrossed  the  chamber,  and  poured 
out  a  goblet-full,  which  I  held  to  the  lips  of  the 


84  LIGEIA. 

fainting  lady.  She  had  now  partially  recovered,  how- 
ever, and  took  the  vessel  herself,  while  I  sank  upon  an 
ottoman  near  me,  with  my  eyes  fastened  upon  her  per- 
son. It  was  then  that  I  became  distinctly  aware  of  a 
gentle  foot-fall  upon  the  carpet,  and  near  the  couch ; 
and  in  a  second  thereafter,  as  Rowena  was  in  the  act 
of  raising  the  wine  to  her  lips,  I  saw,  or  may  have 
dreamed  that  I  saw,  fall  within  the  goblet,  as  if  from 
some  invisible  spring  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  room, 
three  or  four  large  drops  of  a  brilliant  and  ruby-colored 
fluid.  If  this  I  saw — not  so  Rowena.  She  swallowed 
the  wine  unhesitatingly,  and  I  forebore  to  speak  to  her 
of  a  circumstance  which  must,  after  all  I  considered, 
have  been  but  the  suggestion  of  a  vivid  imagination, 
rendered  morbidly  active  by  the  terror  of  the  lady,  by 
the  opium,  and  by  the  hour. 

Yet  I  cannot  conceal  it  from  my  own  perception 
that,  immediately  subsequent  to  the  fall  of  the  ruby- 
drops,  a  rapid  change  for  the  worse  took  place  in  the 
disorder  of  my  wife ;  so  that,  on  the  third  subsequent 
night,  the  hands  of  her  menials  prepared  her  for  the 
tomb,  and  on  the  fourth  I  sat  alone,  with  her  shrouded 
body,  in  that  fantastic  chamber  which  had  received  her 
as  my  bride.  Wild  visions,  opium-engendered,  flitted 
shadow-like  before  me.  I  gazed  with  unquiet  eye 
upon  the  sarcophagi  in  the  angles  of  the  room,  upon 
the  varying  figures  of  the  drapery,  and  upon  the  writh- 
ing of  the  parti-colored  fires  in  the  censer  overhead. 
My  eyes  then  fell,  as  I  called  to  mind  the  circumstances 
of  a  former  night,  to  the  spot  beneath  the  glare  of  the 
censer,  where  I  had  seen  the  faint  traces  of  the  shadow. 
It  was  there,  however,  no  longer ;  and  breathing  with 
greater  freedom,  I  turned  my  glances  to  the  pallid  and 
rigid  figure  upon  the  bed.  Then  rushed  upon  me  a 


LIGEIA.  85 

0 

thousand  memories  of  Ligeia,  and  then  came  back 
upon  my  heart,  with  the  turbulent  violence  of  a  flood, 
the  whole  of  that  unutterable  woe  with  which  I  had 
regarded  her  thus  enshrouded.  The  night  waned ;  and 
still,  with  a  bosom  full  of  bitter  thoughts  of  the  one  only 
and  supremely  beloved,  I  remained  gazing  upon  the 
body  of  Rowena. 

It  might  have  been  midnight,  or  perhaps  earlier,  or 
later,  for  I  had  taken  no  note  of  time,  when  a  sob, 
low,  gentle,  but  very  distinct,  startled  me  from  my 
reverie.  I  felt  that  it  came  from  the  bed  of  ebony — 
the  bed  of  death.  I  listened  in  an  agony  of  supersti- 
tious terror — but  there  was  no  repetition  of  the  sound. 
I  strained  my  vision  to  detect  any  motion  in  the  corpse, 
but  there  was  not  the  slightest  perceptible.  Yet  I 
could  not  have  been  deceived.  I  had  heard  the  noise, 
however  faint,  and  my  soul  was  awakened  within  me. 
I  resolutely  and  perseveringly  kept  my  attention  riveted 
upon  the  body.  Many  minutes  elapsed  before  any 
circumstance  occurred  tending  to  throw  light  upon  the 
mystery.  At  length  it  became  evident  that  a  slight, 
a  very  feeble,  and  barely  noticeable  tinge  of  color  had 
flushed  up  within  the  cheeks,  and  along  the  sunken 
small  veins  of  the  eyelids.  Through  a  species  of  un- 
utterable horror  and  awe,  for  which  the  language  of 
mortality  has  no  suificiently  energetic  expression,  I  felt 
my  heart  cease  to  beat,  my  limbs  grow  rigid  where  I 
sat.  Yet  a  sense  of  duty  finally  operated  to  restore 
my  self-possession.  I  could  no  longer  doubt  that  we 
had  been  precipitate  in  our  preparations — that  Rowena 
still  lived.  It  was  necessary  that  some  immediate 
exertion  be  made ;  yet  the  turret  was  altogether  apart 
from  the  portion  of  the  abbey  tenanted  by  the  servants 
— there  were  none  within  call — I  had  no  means  of 


86  LIQEIA. 

• 

summoning  them  to  my  aid  without  leaving  the  room 
for  many  minutes — and  this  I  could  not  venture  to  do. 
I  therefore  struggled  alone  in  my  endeavors  to  call 
back  the  spirit  still  hovering.  In  a  short  period  it  was 
certain,  however,  that  a  relapse  had  taken  place ; 
the  color  disappeared  from  both  eyelid  and  cheek, 
leaving  a  wanness  even  more  than  that  of  marble; 
the  lips  became  doubly  shriveled  and  pinched  up  in 
the  ghastly  expression  of  death ;  a  repulsive  clammi- 
ness and  coldness  overspread  rapidly  the  surface  of  the 
body ;  and  all  the  usual  rigorous  stiffness  immediately 
supervened.  I  fell  back  with  a  shudder  upon  the 
couch  from  which  I  had  been  so  startlingly  aroused, 
and  again  gave  myself  up  to  passionate  waking  visions 
of  Ligeia. 

An  hour  thus  elapsed,  when  (could  it  be  possible  ?)  I 
was  a  second  time  aware  of  some  vague  sound  issuing 
from  the  region  of  the  bed.  I  listened — in  extremity 
of  horror.  The  sound  came  again — it  was  a  sigh. 
Rushing  to  the  corpse,  I  saw — distinctly  saw — a 
tremor  upon  the  lips.  In  a  minute  afterwards  they 
relaxed,  disclosing  a  bright  line  of  the  pearly  teeth. 
Amazement  now  struggled  in  my  bosom  with  the 
profound  awe  which  had  hitherto  reigned  there  alone. 
I  felt  that  my  vision  grew  dim,  that  my  reason 
wandered ;  and  it  was  only  by  a  violent  effort  that  I 
at  length  succeeded  in  nerving  myself  to  the  task 
which  duty  thus  once  more  had  pointed  out.  There 
was  now  a  partial  glow  upon  the  forehead  and  upon 
the  cheek  and  throat ;  a  perceptible  warmth  pervaded 
the  whole  frame ;  there  was  even  a  slight  pulsation  at 
the  heart.  The  lady  lived;  and  with  redoubled  ardor 
I  betook  myself  to  the  task  of  restoration.  I  chafed 
and  bathed  the  temples  and  the  hands,  and  used  every 


LIGEIA.  87 

exertion  which  experience,  and  no  little  medical  read- 
ing, could  suggest.  But  in  vain.  Suddenly,  the  color 
fled,  the  pulsation  ceased,  the  lips  resumed  the  expression 
of  the  dead,  and,  in  an  instant  afterwards,  the  whole 
body  took  upon  itself  the  icy  chilliness,  the  livid  hue, 
the  intense  rigidity,  the  sunken  outline,  and  all  the 
loathsome  peculiarities  of  that  which  has  been  for  many 
days  a  tenant  of  the  tomb. 

And  again  I  sank  into  visions  of  Ligeia — and  again 
(what  marvel  that  I  shudder  while  I  write  ?) — again 
there  reached  my  ears  a  low  sob  from  the  region  of  the 
ebony  bed.  But  why  shall  I  minutely  detail  the 
unspeakable  horrors  of  that  night?  Why  shall  I 
pause  to  relate  how,  time  after  time,  until  near  the 
period  of  the  gray  dawn,  this  hideous  drama  of  revivi- 
fication was  repeated ;  how  each  terrific  relapse  was 
only  into  a  sterner  and  apparently  more  irredeemable 
death ;  how  each  agony  wore  the  aspect  of  a  struggle 
with  some  invisible  foe ;  and  how  each  struggle  was 
succeeded  by  I  know  not  what  of  wild  change  in  the 
personal  appearance  of  the  corpse  ?  Let  me  hurry  to  a 
conclusion. 

The  greater  part  of  the  fearful  night  had  worn 
away,  and  she  who  had  been  dead  once  again  stirred 
— and  now  more  vigorously  than  hitherto,  although 
arousing  from  a  dissolution  more  appalling  in  its  utter 
hopelessness  than  any.  I  had  long  ceased  to  struggle 
or  to  move,  and  remained  sitting  rigidly  upon  the 
ottoman,  a  helpless  prey  to  a  whirl  of  violent  emotions, 
of  which  extreme  awe  was  perhaps  the  least  terrible, 
the  least  consuming.  The  corpse,  I  repeat,  stirred, 
and  now  more  vigorously  than  before.  The  hues  of 
life  flushed  up  with  unwonted  energy  into  the  coun- 
tenance— the  limbs  relaxed — and,  save  that  the  eyelids 


88  LIGEIA. 

were  yet  pressed  neavily  together,  and  that  the  ban- 
dages and  draperies  of  the  grave  still  imparted  their 
charnel  character  to  the  figure,  I  might  have  dreamed 
that  Rowena  had  indeed  shaken  off,  utterly,  the  fetters 
of  death.  But  if  this  idea  was  not,  even  then,  altogether 
adopted,  I  could  at  least  doubt  no  longer,  when,  arising 
from  the  bed,  tottering,  with  feeble  steps,  with  closed 
eyes,  and  with  the  manner  of  one  bewildered  in  a  dream, 
the  thing  that  was  enshrouded  advanced  bodily  and 
palpably  into  the  middle  of  the  apartment. 

I  trembled  not — I  stirred  not — for  a  crowd  of  un- 
utterable fancies  connected  with  the  air,  the  stature, 
the  demeanor  of  the  figure,  rushing  hurriedly  through 
my  brain,  had  paralyzed — had  chilled  me  into  stone. 
I  stirred  not — but  gazed  upon  the  apparition.  There 
was  a  mad  disorder  in  my  thoughts — a  tumult  unap- 
peasable. Could  it,  indeed,  be  the  living  Rowena  who 
confronted  me?  Could  it  indeed  be  Rowena  at  all 
— the  fair-haired,  the  blue-eyed  Lady  Rowena  Tre- 
vanion  of  Tremaine?  Why,  why  should  I  doubt  it? 
The  bandage  lay  heavily  about  the  mouth — but  then 
might  it  not  be  the  mouth  of  the  breathing  Lady  of 
Tremaine  ?  And  the  cheeks — there  were  the  roses  as  in 
her  noon  of  life — yes,  these  might  indeed  be  the  fair 
cheeks  of  the  living  Lady  of  Tremaine.  And  the  chin, 
with  its  dimples,  as  in  health,  might  it  not  be  hers  ? — 
but  had  she  then  grown  taller  since  her  malady  '/  What 
inexpressible  madness  seized  me  with  that  thought? 
One  bound,  and  I  had  reached  her  feet !  Shrinking 
from  my  touch,  she  let  fall  from  her  head  the  ghastly 
cerements  which  had  confined  it,  and  there  streamed 
forth,  into  the  rushing  atmosphere  of  the  chamber,  huge 
masses  of  long  and  disheveled  hair ;  it  was  blacker  than 
the  wings  of  midnight!  And  now  slowly  opened  the 


LIGEIA.  89 

eyes  of  the  figure  which  stood  before  me. —  "  Here 
then,  at  least,"  I  shrieked  aloud,  "  can  I  never — can  I 
never  be  mistaken — these  are  the  full,  and  the  black 
and  the  wild  eyes — of  my  lost  love — of  the  Lady — of 
the  LADY  LIGEIA." 


MORELLA. 


Avro  Kaff  avro  (Jieff  avrov,  fiovoEiSeg  aiei  ov. 
Itself,  by  itself  solely,  ONE  everlastingly,  and  single. 

—PLATO.    Sympos. 

With  a  feeling  of  deep  yet  most  singular  affection, 
I  regarded  my  friend  Morella.  Thrown  by  accident 
into  her  society  many  years  ago,  my  soul,  from  our 
first  meeting  burned  with  fires  it  had  never  before 
known  ;  but  the  fires  were  not  of  Eros,  and  bitter  and 
tormenting  to  my  spirit  was  the  gradual  conviction 
that  I  could  in  no  manner  define  their  unusual  mean- 
ing or  regulate  their  vague  intensity.  Yet  we  met  ;  and 
fate  bound  us  together  at  the  altar  ;  and  I  never  spoke 
of  passion  nor  thought  of  love.  She,  however,  shunned 
society,  and,  attaching  herself  to  me  alone,  rendered 
me  happy.  It  is  a  happiness  to  wonder  ;  it  is  a  happi- 
ness to  dream. 

Morella's  erudition  was  profound.  As  I  hope  to 
live,  her  talents  were  of  no  common  order  —  her  powers 
of  mind  were  gigantic.  I  felt  this,  and,  in  many 
matters  became  her  pupil.  I  soon,  however,  found 
that  perhaps  on  account  of  her  Presburg  education, 
she  placed  before  me  a  number  of  those  mystical  writ- 
ings which  are  usually  considered  the  mere  dross  of 
the  early  German  literature.  These,  for  what  reason 
I  could  not  imagine,  were  her  favorite  and  constant 
(91) 


92  MORELLA. 

study — and  that  in  process  of  time  they  became  my 
own,  should  be  attributed  to  the  simple  but  effectual 
influence  of  habit  and  example. 

In  all  this,  if  I  err  not,  my  reason  had  little  to  do. 
My  convictions,  or  I  forget  myself,  were  in  no  manner 
acted  upon  by  the  ideal,  nor  was  any  tincture  of  the 
mysticism  which  I  read  to  be  discovered,  unless  I  am 
greatly  mistaken,  either  in  my  deeds  or  in  my  thoughts. 
Persuaded  of  this,  I  abandoned  myself  implicitly  to 
the  guidance  of  my  wife,  and  entered  with  an  unflinch- 
ing heart  into  the  intricacies  of  her  studies.  And 
then — then,  when  poring  over  forbidden  pages,  I  felt  a 
forbidden  spirit  enkindling  within  me — would  Morella 
place  her  cold  hand  upon  my  own,  and  rake  up  from 
the  ashes  of  a  dead  philosophy  some  low,  singular 
words  whose  strange  meaning  burned  themselves  in 
upon  my  memory.  And  then,  hour  after  hour,  would 
I  linger  by  her  side,  and  dwell  upon  the  music  of  her 
voice,  until  at  length  its  melody  was  tainted  with  terror, 
and  there  fell  a  shadow  upon  my  soul,  and  I  grew 
pale,  and  shuddered  inwardly  at  those  too  unearthly 
tones.  And  thus,  joy  suddenly  faded  into  horror,  and 
the  most  beautiful  became  the  most  hideous,  as  Hinnom 
became  Ge-Henna. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  state  the  exact  character  of  those 
disquisitions  which,  growing  out  of  the  volumes  I  have 
mentioned,  formed  for  so  long  a  time,  almost  the  sole 
conversation  of  Morella  and  myself.  By  the  learned 
in  what  might  be  termed  theological  morality  they  will 
be  readily  conceived,  and  by  the  unlearned  they  would, 
at  all  events,  be  little  understood.  The  wild  Panthe- 
ism of  Fichte ;  the  modified  Tlafayyevema  of  Pythago- 
reans ;  and,  above  all,  the  doctrines  of  Identity  as  urged 
by  Schelling,  were  generally  the  points  of  discussion 


MORELLA.  93 

presenting  the  most  of  beauty  to  the  imaginative  Morella. 
That  identity  which  is  termed  personal,  Locke,  I  think, 
truly  defines  to  consist  in  the  sameness  of  a  rational 
being.  And  since  by  person  we  understand  an  intelli- 
gent essence  having  reason,  and  since  there  is  a  con- 
sciousness which  always  accompanies  thinking,  it  is 
this  which  makes  us  all  to  be  that  which  we  call  our- 
selves, thereby  distinguishing  us  from  other  beings  that 
think,  and  giving  us  our  personal  identity.  But  the 
principium  individuation  is,  the  notion  of  that  identity 
which  at  death  is  or  is  not  lost  for  ever,  was  to  me,  at 
all  times,  a  consideration  of  intense  interest ;  not  more 
from  the  perplexing  and  exciting  nature  of  its  conse- 
quences, than  from  the  marked  and  agitated  manner  in 
which  Morella  mentioned  them. 

But,  indeed,  the  time  had  now  arrived  when  the 
mystery  of  my  wife's  manner  oppressed  me  as  a  spell. 
I  could  no  longer  bear  the  touch  of  her  wan  fingers, 
nor  the  low  tone  of  her  musical  language,  nor  the 
lustre  of  her  melancholy  eyes.  And  she  knew  all  this, 
but  did  not  upbraid ;  she  seemed  conscious  of  my 
weakness  or  my  folly,  and,  smiling,  called  it  fate.  She 
seemed  also  conscious  of  a  cause,  to  me  unknown,  for 
the  gradual  alienation  of  my  regard ;  but  she  gave  me 
no  hint  or  token  of  its  nature.  Yet  was  she  woman, 
and  pined  away  daily.  In  time  the  crimson  spot 
settled  steadily  upon  the  cheek,  and  the  blue  veins  upon 
the  pale  forehead  became  prominent ;  and  one  instant 
my  nature  melted  into  pity,  but  in  the  next  I  met  the 
glance  of  her  meaning  eyes,  and  then  my  soul  sickened 
and  became  giddy  with  the  giddiness  of  one  who  gazes 
downward  into  some  dreary  and  unfathomable  abyss. 

Shall  I  then  say  that  I  longed  with  an  earnest  and 
consuming  desire  for  the  moment  of  Morella's  decease  ? 


94  MORELLA. 

I  did ;  but  the  fragile  spirit  clung  to  its  tenement  of 
clay  for  many  days,  for  many  weeks  and  irksome 
months,  until  my  tortured  nerves  obtained  the  mastery 
over  my  mind,  and  I  grew  furious  through  delay,  and, 
with  the  heart  of  a  fiend,  cursed  the  days  and  the  hours 
and  the  bitter  moments,  which  seemed  to  lengthen  and 
lengthen  as  her  gentle  life  declined,  like  shadows  in  the 
dying  of  the  day. 

But  one  autumnal  evening,  when  the  winds  lay  still 
in  heaven,  Morella  called  me  to  her  bedside.  There 
was  a  dim  mist  over  all  the  earth,  and  a  warm  glow 
upon  the  waters,  and,  amid  the  rich  October  leaves  of 
the  forest,  a  rainbow  from  the  firmament  had  surely 
fallen. 

"  It  is  a  day  of  days,"  she  said,  as  I  approached  ;  "  a 
day  of  all  days  either  to  live  or  die.  It  is  a  fair  day  for 
the  sons  of  earth  and  life — ah,  more  fair  for  the  daugh- 
ters of  heaven  and  death ! " 

I  kissed  her  forehead  and  she  continued : 

"  I  am  dying,  yet  shall  I  live." 

"  Morella ! " 

"  The  days  have  never  been  when  thou  couldst  love 
me — but  her  whom  in  life  thou  didst  abhor,  in  death  thou 
shalt  adore." 

"  Morella ! " 

"  I  repeat  that  I  am  dying.  But  within  me  is  a 
pledge  of  that  affection — ah,  how  little ! — which  thou 
didst  feel  for  me,  Morella.  And  when  my  spirit 
departs  shall  the  child  live — thy  child  and  mine, 
Morella's.  But  thy  days  shall  be  days  of  sorrow — 
that  sorrow  which  is  the  most  lasting  of  impressions, 
as  the  cypress  is  the  most  enduring  of  trees.  For  the 
hours  of  thy  happiness  are  over ;  and  joy  is  not  gathered 
twice  in  a  life,  as  the  roses  of  Paestum  twice  in  a  year. 


MORELLA.  95 

Thou  shalt  no  longer,  then,  play  the  Teian  with  time, 
but,  being  ignorant  of  the  myrtle  and  the  vine,  thou 
shalt  bear  about  with  thee  thy  shroud  on  earth,  as  do 
the  Moslemin  at  Mecca." 

"Morella!"  I  cried,  "Morella!  how  knowest  thou 
this  ?  "  But  she  turned  away  her  face  upon  the  pillow, 
and  a  slight  tremor  coming  over  her  limbs,  she  thus  died, 
and  I  heard  her  voice  no  more. 

Yet,  as  she  had  foretold,  her  child,  to  which  in  dying 
she  had  given  birth,  and  which  breathed  not  until  the 
mother  breathed  no  more,  her  child,  a  daughter,  lived. 
And  she  grew  strangely  in  stature  and  intellect,  and  was 
the  perfect  resemblance  of  her  who  had  departed,  and  I 
loved  her  with  a  love  more  fervent  than  I  had  believed 
it  possible  to  feel  for  any  denizen  of  earth. 

But  ere  long  the  heaven  of  this  pure  affection 
became  darkened,  and  gloom,  and  horror,  and  grief, 
swept  over  it  in  clouds.  I  said  the  child  grew  strangely 
in  stature  and  intelligence.  Strange,  indeed,  was  her 
rapid  increase  in  bodily  size,  but  terrible,  oh !  terrible 
were  the  tumultuous  thoughts  which  crowded  upon  me 
while  watching  the  development  of  her  mental  being. 
Could  it  be  otherwise,  when  I  daily  discovered  in  the 
conceptions  of  the  child  the  adult  powers  and  faculties 
of  the  woman  ?  when  the  lessons  of  experience  fell  from 
the  lips  of  infancy  ?  and  when  the  wisdom  or  the  pas- 
sions of  maturity  I  found  hourly  gleaming  from  its  full 
and  speculative  eye?  When,  I  say,  all  this  became 
evident  to  my  appalled  senses,  when  I  could  no  longer 
hide  it  from  my  soul,  nor  throw  it  off  from  those  percep- 
tions which  trembled  to  receive  it,  is  it  to  be  wondered 
at  that  suspicions,  of  a  nature  fearful  and  exciting, 
crept  in  upon  my  spirit,  or  that  my  thoughts  fell  back 
aghast  upon  the  wild  tales  and  thrilling  theories  of  the 


96  MORELLA. 

entombed  Morella?  I  snatched  from  the  scrutiny  of 
the  world  a  being  whom  destiny  compelled  me  to  adore, 
and  in  the  rigorous  seclusion  of  my  home,  watched 
with  an  agonizing  anxiety  over  all  which  concerned  the 
beloved. 

And  as  years  rolled  away,  and  I  gazed  day  after  day 
upon  her  holy,  and  mild,  and  eloquent  face,  and  pored 
over  her  maturing  form,  day  after  day  did  I  discover 
new  points  of  resemblance  in  the  child  to  her  mother, 
the  melancholy  and  the  dead.  And  hourly  grew  darker 
these  shadows  of  similitude,  and  more  full,  and  more 
definite,  and  more  perplexing,  and  more  hideously 
terrible  in  their  aspect.  For  that  her  smile  was  like 
her  mother's  I  could  bear ;  but  then  I  shuddered  at  its 
too  perfect  identity ;  that  her  eyes  were  like  Morella's  I 
could  endure ;  but  then  they,  too,  often  looked  down 
into  the  depths  of  my  soul  with  Morella's  own  intense 
and  bewildering  meaning.  And  in  the  contour  of  the 
high  forehead,  and  in  the  ringlets  of  the  silken  hair,  and 
in  the  wan  fingers  which  buried  themselves  therein,  and 
in  the  sad  musical  tones  of  her  speech,  and  above  all — 
oh,  above  all,  in  the  phrases  and  expressions  of  the  dead 
on  the  lips  of  the  loved  and  the  living,  I  found  food 
for  consuming  thought  and  horror,  for  a  worm  that 
would  not  die. 

Thus  passed  away  two  lustra  of  her  life,  and  as 
yet  my  daughter  remained  nameless  upon  the  earth. 
"My  child,"  and  "my  love,"  were  the  designations 
usually  prompted  by  a  father's  affection,  and  the  rigid 
seclusion  of  her  days  precluded  all  other  intercourse. 
Morella's  name  died  with  her  at  her  death.  Of  the 
mother  I  had  never  spoken  to  the  daughter;  it  was 
impossible  to  speak.  Indeed,  during  the  brief  period 
of  her  existence,  the  latter  had  received  no  impressions 


MORELLA.  97 

from  the  outward  world,  save  such  as  might  have  been 
afforded  by  the  narrow  limits  of  her  privacy.  But  at 
length  the  ceremony  of  baptism  presented  to  my  mind, 
in  its  unnerved  and  agitated  condition,  a  present 
deliverance  from  the  terrors  of  my  destiny.  And  at 
the  baptismal  font  I  hesitated  for  a  name.  And  many 
titles  of  the  wise  and  beautiful,  of  old  and  modern 
times,  of  my  own  and  foreign  lands,  came  thronging 
to  my  lips,  with  many,  many  fair  titles  of  the  gentle, 
and  the  happy,  and  the  good.  What  prompted  me 
then  to  disturb  the  memory  of  the  buried  dead? 
What  demon  urged  me  to  breathe  that  sound,  which 
in  its  very  recollection  was  wont  to  make  ebb  the 
purple  blood  in  torrents  from  the  temples  to  the  heart  ? 
What  fiend  spoke  from  the  recesses  of  my  soul,  when 
amid  those  dim  aisles,  and  in  the  silence  of  the  night, 
I  whispered  within  the  ears  of  the  holy  man  the 
syllables — Morella?  Wha^more  than  fiend  convulsed 
the  features  of  my  child  and  overspread  them  with 
hues  of  death,  as  starting  at  that  scarcely  audible  sound, 
she  turned  her  glassy  eyes  from  the  earth  to  heaven, 
and  falling  prostrate  on  the  black  slabs  of  our  ancestral 
vault,  responded — "  I  am  here ! " 

Distinct,  coldly,  calmly  distinct,  fell  those  few  simple 
sounds  within  my  ear,  and  thence  like  molten  lead 
rolled  hissingly  into  my  brain.  Years — years  may 
pass  away,  but  the  memory  of  that  epoch  never !  Nor 
was  I  indeed  ignorant  of  the  flowers  and  the  vine — 
but  the  hemlock  and  the  cypress  overshadowed  me 
night  and  day.  And  I  kept  no  reckoning  of  time  or 
place,  and  the  stars  of  my  fate  faded  from  heaven,  and 
therefore  the  earth  grew  dark,  and  its  figures  passed 
by  me  like  flitting  shadows,  and  among  them  all  I 

beheld   only — Morella.     The   winds   of  the   firmament 
Vol.  I.-7. 


98  MOEELLA. 

breathed  but  one  sound  within  my  ears,  and  the 
ripples  upon  the  sea  murmured  evermore — Morella. 
But  she  died ;  and  with  my  own  hands  I  bore  her  to 
the  tomb,  and  I  laughed  with  a  long  and  bitter  laugh 
as  I  found  no  traces  of  the  first  in  the  charnel  where 
I  laid  the  second — Morella. 


A'.ET.TENGERSTEIN 


- 


METZENGERSTEIN. 

Pestis  eram  vlvus — moriens  tua  more  ero. 

— MAETIN  LUTHER. 

Horror  and  fatality  have  been  stalking  abroad  in  all 
ages.  Why  then  give  a  date  to  the  story  I  have  to 
tell  ?  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  at  the  period  of  which 
I  speak,  there  existed  in  the  interior  of  Hungary  a 
settled  although  hidden  belief  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Metempsychosis.  Of  the  doctrines  themselves — that 
is,  of  their  falsity  or  of  their  probability — I  say  nothing. 
I  assert,  however,  that  much  of  our  incredulity  (as  La 
Bruyere  says  of  all  our  unhappiness)  "went  de  ne 
pouvoir  etre  seuls."* 

But  there  were  some  points  in  the  Hungarian  super- 
stition which  were  fast  verging  to  absurdity.  They, 
the  Hungarians,  differed  very  essentially  from  their 
Eastern  authorities.  For  example — "  The  soul,"  said 
the  former — I  give  the  words  of  an  acute  and  intelligent 
Parisian — "  ne  demeure  qu'une  seule  fois  dans  un  corps 
sensible.  Ainsi — un  cheval,  un  chien,  un  homme  ineme, 
ne  que  la  ressemblance  illusoire  des  ces  etres" 

The  families  of  Berlifitzing  and  Metzengerstein  had 
been  at  variance  for  centuries.  Never  before  were 

*  Mercier,  in  "  L'an  deux  mitte  quatre  cent  quaranle,"  seriously  main- 
tains the  doctrines  of  the  Metempsychosis,  and  I.  D'Israeli  says  that "  no 
system  is  so  simple  and  so  little  repugnant  to  the  understanding.'' 
Colonel  Ethan  Allan,  the  "  Green  Mountain  Boy,"  is  also  said  to  have 
been  a  serious  metempsychosist. 

(99) 


100  METZENGERSTEIN. 

two  houses  so  illustrious,  mutually  embittered  by  hostil- 
ity so  deadly.  The  origin  of  this  enmity  seems  to  be 
found  in  the  words  of  an  ancient  prophecy — "  A  lofty 
name  shall  have  a  fearful  fall  when,  as  the  rider  over 
his  horse,  the  mortality  of  Metzengerstein  shall  triumph 
over  the  immortality  of  Berlifitzing." 

To  be  sure  the  words  themselves  had  little  or  no 
meaning.  But  more  trivial  causes  have  given  rise — 
and  that  no  long  while  ago — to  consequences  equally 
eventful.  Besides,  the  estates,  which  were  contiguous, 
had  long  exercised  a  rival  influence  in  the  affairs  of  a 
busy  government.  Moreover,  near  neighbors  are 
seldom  friends ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Castle 
Berlifitzing  might  look  from  their  lofty  buttresses, 
into  the  very  windows  of  the  Palace  Metzengerstein. 
Least  of  all  had  the  more  than  feudal  magnificence 
thus  discovered  a  tendency  to  allay  the  irritable  feelings 
of  the  less  ancient  and  less  wealthy  Berlifitzings. 
What  wonder  then,  that  the  words,  however  silly,  of 
that  prediction,  should  have  succeeded  in  setting  and 
keeping  at  variance  two  families  already  predisposed  to 
quarrel  by  every  instigation  of  hereditary  jealousy? 
The  prophecy  seemed  to  imply,  if  it  implied  anything,  a 
final  triumph  on  the  part  of  the  already  more  powerful 
house ;  and  was  of  course  remembered  with  the  more 
bitter  animosity  by  the  weaker  and  less  influential. 

Wilhelm,  Count  Berlifitzing,  although  loftily  de- 
scended, was,  at  the  epoch  of  this  narrative,  an  infirm 
and  doting  old  man,  remarkable  for  nothing  but  an 
inordinate  and  inveterate  personal  antipathy  to  the 
family  of  his  rival,  and  so  passionate  a  love  of  horses, 
and  of  hunting,  that  neither  bodily  infirmity,  great  age 
nor  mental  incapacity,  prevented  his  daily  participation 
in  the  dangers  of  the  chase. 


METZENGERSTEIN.  101 

Frederick,  Baron  Metzengerstein,  was,  on  the  other 

hand,  not  yet  of  age.  His  father,  the  Minister  G , 

died  young.  His  mother,  the  Lady  Mary,  followed 
him  quickly.  Frederick  was  at  that  time  in  his 
eighteenth  year.  In  a  city  eighteen  years  are  no  long 
period :  but  in  a  wilderness — in  so  magnificent  a  wilder- 
ness as  that  old  principality,  the  pendulum  vibrates  with 
a  deeper  meaning. 

From  some  peculiar  circumstances  attending  the 
administration  of  his  father,  the  young  Baron,  at  the 
decease  of  the  former,  entered  immediately  upon  his 
vast  possessions.  Such  estates  were  seldom  held  before 
by  a  nobleman  of  Hungary.  His  castles  were  without 
number.  The  chief  in  point  of  splendor  and  extent  was 
the  "  Palace  Metzengerstein."  The  boundary  line  of 
his  dominions  was  never  clearly  defined,  but  his  princi- 
pal park  embraced  a  circuit  of  fifty  miles. 

Upon  the  succession  of  a  proprietor  so  young,  with  a 
character  so  well  known,  to  a  fortune  so  unparalleled, 
little  speculation  was  afloat  in  regard  to  his  probable 
course  of  conduct.  And  indeed  for  the  space  of  three 
days,  the  behavior  of  the  heir  out-Heroded  Herod, 
and  fairly  surpassed  the  expectations  of  his  most 
enthusiastic  admirers.  Shameful  debaucheries — flagrant 
treacheries — unheard-of  atrocities — gave  his  trembling 
vassals  quickly  to  understand  that  no  servile  submission 
on  their  part — no  punctilios  of  conscience  on  his  own 
— were  thenceforward  to  prove  any  security  against 
the  remorseless  fangs  of  a  petty  Caligula.  On  the 
night  of  the  fourth  day,  the  stables  of  the  Castle 
Berlifitzing  were  discovered  to  be  on  fire ;  and  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  neighborhood  added  the  crime 
of  the  incendiary  to  the  already  hideous  list  of  the 
Baron's  misdemeanors  and  enormities. 


102  METZENOEESTEIN. 

But  during  the  tumult  occasioned  by  this  occur- 
rence, the  young  nobleman  himself,  sat,  apparently 
buried  in  meditation,  in  a  vast  and  desolate  upper 
apartment  of  the  family  palace  of  Metzengerstein. 
The  rich  although  faded  tapestry  hangings  which  swung 
gloomily  upon  the  walls,  represented  the  shadowy 
and  majestic  forms  of  a  thousand  illustrious  ancestors. 
Here,  rich-ermined  priests  and  pontifical  dignitaries, 
familiarily  seated  with  the  autocrat  and  the  sovereign, 
put  a  veto  on  the  wishes  of  a  temporal  king,  or  re- 
strained with  the  fiat  of  papal  supremacy  the  rebellious 
sceptre  of  the  Arch-enemy.  There,  the  dark  tall 
statures  of  the  Princes  Metzengerstein — their  muscular 
war-coursers  plunging  over  the  carcases  of  fallen  foes 
— startled  the  steadiest  nerves  with  their  vigorous  ex- 
pression ;  and  here  again,  the  voluptuous  and  swan-like 
figures  of  the  dames  of  days  gone  by,  floated  away  in 
the  mazes  of  an  unreal  dance  to  the  strains  of  imagi- 
nary melody. 

But  as  the  Baron  listened  or  affected  to  listen  to  the 
gradually  increasing  uproar  in  the  stables  of  Berlifitz- 
ing — or  perhaps  pondered  upon  some  more  novel,  some 
more  decided  act  of  audacity — his  eyes  were  turned 
unwittingly  to  the  figure  of  an  enormous  and  unnatu- 
rally colored  horse,  represented  in  the  tapestry  as 
belonging  to  a  Saracen  ancestor  of  the  family  of  his 
rival.  The  horse  itself,  in  the  foreground  of  the 
design,  stood  motionless  and  statue-like — while  further 
back,  its  discomfited  rider  perished  by  the  dagger  of  a 
Metzengerstein. 

On  Frederick's  lip  arose  a  fiendish  expression  as  he 
became  aware  of  the  direction  which  his  glance  had, 
without  his  consciousness,  assumed.  Yet  he  did  not 
remove  it.  On  the  contrary,  he  could  by  no  means 


METZENGERSTEIN.  103 

account  for  the  overwhelming  anxiety  which  appeared 
falling  like  a  pall  upon  his  senses.  It  was  with  diffi- 
culty that  he  reconciled  his  dreamy  and  incoherent  feel- 
ings with  the  certainty  of  being  awake.  The  longer  he 
gazed  the  more  absorbing  became  the  spell — the  more 
impossible  did  it  appear  that  he  could  ever  withdraw 
his  glance  from  the  fascination  of  that  tapestry.  But 
the  tumult  without  becoming  suddenly  more  violent, 
with  a  compulsory  exertion  he  diverted  his  attention  to 
the  glare  of  ruddy  light  thrown  full  by  the  flaming 
stables  upon  the  windows  of  the  apartment. 

The  action,  however,  was  but  momentary ;  his  gaze 
returned  mechanically  to  the  wall.  To  his  extreme 
horror  and  astonishment  the  head  of  the  gigantic  steed 
had  in  the  meantime  altered  its  position.  The  neck  of 
the  animal,  before  arched,  as  if  in  compassion,  over  the 
prostrate  body  of  his  lord,  was  now  extended  at  full 
length  in  the  direction  of  the  Baron.  The  eyes,  before 
invisible,  now  wore  an  energetic  and  human  expression, 
while  they  gleamed  with  a  fiery  and  unusual  red ;  and 
the  distended  lips  of  the  apparently  enraged  horse  left 
in  full  view  his  sepulchral  and  disgusting  teeth. 

Stupefied  with  terror  the  young  nobleman  tottered 
to  the  door.  As  he  threw  it  open  a  flash  of  red  light, 
streaming  far  into  the  chamber,  flung  his  shadow  with 
a  clear  outline  against  the  quivering  tapestry ;  and  he 
shuddered  to  perceive  that  shadow — as  he  staggered 
awhile  upon  the  threshold — assuming  the  exact  position, 
and  precisely  filling  up  the  contour  of  the  relentless  and 
triumphant  murderer  of  the  Saracen  Berlifitzing. 

To  lighten  the  depression  of  his  spirits  the  Baron 
hurried  into  the  open  air.  At  the  principal  gate  of  the 
palace  he  encountered  three  equerries.  With  much 
difficulty,  and  at  the  imminent  peril  of  their  lives,  they 


104  METZENGERSTEIN. 

were  restraining  the  convulsive  plunges  of  a  gigantic 
and  fiery  colored  horse. 

"  Whose  horse  ?  Where  did  you  get  him  ?  "  demanded 
the  youth  in  a  querulous  and  husky  tone,  as  he  became 
instantly  aware  that  the  mysterious  steed  in  the  tapes- 
tried chamber  was  the  very  counterpart  of  the  furious 
animal  before  his  eyes. 

"  He  is  your  own  property,  sire,"  replied  one  of  the 
equerries ;  "  at  least  he  is  claimed  by  no  other  owner. 
We  caught  him  flying,  all  smoking  and  foaming  with 
rage,  from  the  burning  stables  of  the  Castle  Berlifitzing. 
Supposing  him  to  have  belonged  to  the  old  Count's  stud 
of  foreign  horses  we  led  him  back  as  an  estray.  But  the 
grooms  there  disclaim  any  title  to  the  creature,  which  is 
strange,  since  he  bears  evident  marks  of  having  made  a 
narrow  escape  from  the  flames." 

"The  letters  W.  V.  B.  are  also  branded  very  dis- 
tinctly on  his  forehead,"  interrupted  a  second  equerry ; 
"  I  supposed  them  of  course  to  be  the  initials  of  Wilhelm 
Von  Berlifitzing — but  all  at  the  castle  are  positive  in 
denying  any  knowledge  of  the  horse." 

"  Extremely  singular  ! "  said  the  young  Baron  with  a 
musing  air,  and  apparently  unconscious  of  the  meaning 
of  his  words.  "  He  is  as  you  say  a  remarkable  horse — 
a  prodigious  horse !  although,  as  you  very  justly  observe, 
of  a  suspicious  and  untractable  character;  let  him  be 
mine,  however,"  he  added,  after  a  pause,  "perhaps  a 
rider  like  Frederick  of  Metzengerstein  may  tame  even 
the  devil  from  the  stables  of  Berlifitzing." 

"  You  are  mistaken,  my  lord ;  the  horse,  as  I  think 
we  mentioned,  is  not  from  the  stables  of  the  Count. 
If  such  had  been  the  case,  we  know  our  duty  better 
than  to  bring  him  into  the  presence  of  a  noble  of  your 
family." 


METZENGERSTEIN.  106 

"  True ! "  observed  the  Baron  dryly ;  and  at  that 
instant  a  page  of  the  bed-chamber  came  from  the 
palace  with  a  heightened  color  and  a  precipitate  step. 
He  whispered  into  his  master's  ear  an  account  of  the 
sudden  disappearance  of  a  small  portion  of  the  tapestry 
in  an  apartment  which  he  designated,  entering  at  the 
same  time  into  particulars  of  a  minute  and  circumstan- 
tial character ;  but  from  the  low  tone  of  voice  in  which 
these  latter  were  communicated,  nothing  escaped  to 
gratify  the  excited  curiosity  of  the  equerries. 

The  young  Frederick  during  the  conference  seemed 
agitated  by  a  variety  of  emotions.  He  soon,  however, 
recovered  his  composure,  and  an  expression  of  deter- 
mined malignancy  settled  upon  his  countenance  as  he 
gave  peremptory  orders  that  the  apartment  in  question 
should  be  immediately  locked  up,  and  the  key  placed  in 
his  own  possession. 

"  Have  you  heard  of  the  unhappy  death  of  the  old 
hunter  Berlifitzing  ? "  said  one  of  his  vassals  to  the 
Baron,  as,  after  the  departure  of  the  page,  the  huge 
steed  which  that  nobleman  had  adopted  as  his  own 
plunged  and  curvetted  with  redoubled  fury  down  the 
long  avenue  which  extended  from  the  palace  to  the 
stables  of  Metzengerstein. 

"  No ! "  said  the  Baron,  turning  abruptly  towards  the 
speaker ;  "  dead !  say  you  ?  " 

"  It  is  indeed  true,  my  lord ;  and,  to  the  «noble  of 
your  name,  will  be,  I  imagine,  no  unwelcome  intelli- 
gence." 

A  rapid  smile  shot  over  the  countenance  of  the 
listener.  "  How  died  he  ? " 

"  In  his  rash  exertions  to  rescue  a  favorite  portion  of 
his  hunting  stud,  he  has  himself  perished  miserably  in 
the  flames." 


106  METZENGERSTEIN. 

"  I — n — d — e — e — d — ! "  ejaculated  the  Baron,  as 
if  slowly  and  deliberately  impressed  with  the  truth  of 
some  exciting  idea. 

"  Indeed,"  repeated  the  vassal. 

"  Shocking ! "  said  the  youth  calmly,  and  turned 
quietly  into  the  palace. 

From  this  date  a  marked  alteration  took  place  in  the 
outward  demeanor  of  the  dissolute  young  Baron  Fred- 
erick Von  Metzengerstein.  Indeed,  his  behavior  dis- 
appointed every  expectation,  and  proved  little  in 
accordance  with  the  views  of  many  a  manoeuvring 
mamma;  while  his  habits  and  manners,  still  less  than 
formerly,  offered  anything  congenial  with  those  of  the 
neighboring  aristocracy.  He  was  never  to  be  seen 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  domain,  and  in  this  wide 
and  social  world  was  utterly  companionless — unless 
indeed  that  unnatural,  impetuous,  and  fiery  colored 
horse,  which  he  henceforward  continually  bestrode,  had 
any  mysterious  right  to  the  title  of  his  friend. 

Numerous  invitations  on  the  part  of  the  neighbor- 
hood for  a  long  time,  however,  periodically  came  in. 
"  "\Yill  the  Baron  honor  our  festivals  with  his  presence  ?  " 
"Will  the  Baron  join  us  in  a  hunting  of  the  boar?" — 
"Metzengerstein  does  not  hunt;"  "Metzengerstein 
will  not  attend,"  were  the  haughty  and  laconic 
answers. 

These  repeated  insults  were  not  to  be  endured  by 
an  imperious  nobility.  Such  invitations  became  less 
cordial,  less  frequent;  in  time  they  ceased  altogether. 
The  widow  of  the  unfortunate  Count  Berlifitzing  was* 
even  heard  to  express  a  hope  "that  the  Baron  might 
be  at  home  when  he  did  not  wish  to  be  at  home,  since 
he  disdained  the  company  of  his  equals;  and  ride 
when  he  did  not  wish  to  ride,  since  he  preferred  the 


METZENGERSTEIK  107 

society  of  a  horse."  This  to  be  sure  was  a  very  silly 
explosion  of  hereditary  pique,  and  merely  proved  how 
singularly  unmeaning  our  sayings  are  apt  to  become 
when  we  desire  to  be  unusually  energetic. 

The  charitable,  nevertheless,  attributed  the  altera- 
tion in  the  conduct  of  the  young  nobleman  to  the 
natural  sorrow  of  a  son  for  the  untimely  loss  of  his 
parents;  forgetting,  however,  his  atrocious  and  reck- 
less behavior  during  the  short  period  immediately 
succeeding  that  bereavement.  Some  there  were,  indeed, 
who  suggested  a  too  haughty  idea  of  self-consequence  and 
dignity.  Others  again  (among  whom  may  be  mentioned 
the  family  physician)  did  not  hesitate  in  speaking  of 
morbid  melancholy  and  hereditary  ill-health,  while  dark 
hints  of  a  more  equivocal  nature  were  current  among 
the  multitude. 

Indeed,  the  Baron's  perverse  attachment  to  his  lately 
acquired  charger — an  attachment  which  seemed  to 
attain  new  strength  from  every  fresh  example  of  the 
animal's  ferocious  and  demon-like  propensities — at 
length  became,  in  the  eyes  of  all  reasonable  men,  a 
hideous  and  unnatural  fervor.  In  the  glare  of  noon — 
at  the  dead  hour  of  night — in  sickness  or  in  health — 
in  calm  or  in  tempest — the  young  Metzengerstein 
seemed  riveted  to  the  saddle  of  that  colossal  horse,  < 
whose  intractable  audacities  so  well  accorded  with  his 
own  spirit. 

There  were  circumstances,  moreover,  which,  coupled 
with  late  events,  gave  an  unearthly  and  portentous 
character  to  the  mania  of  the  rider,  and  to  the  capa- 
bilities of  the  steed.  The  space  passed  over  in  a  single 
leap  had  been  accurately  measured,  and  was  found  to 
exceed,  by  an  astounding  difference,  the  wildest  expecta- 
tions of  the  most  imaginative.  The  Baron,  besides, 


108  METZENGERSTEIN. 

had  no  particular  name  for  the  animal,  although  all 
the  rest  of  his  collection  were  distinguished  by  charac- 
teristic appellations.  His  stable,  too,  was  appointed  at 
a  distance  from  the  rest;  and  with  regard  to  groom- 
ing and  other  necessary  offices,  none  but  the  owner  in 
person  had  ventured  to  officiate,  or  even  to  enter  the 
enclosure  of  that  horse's  particular  stall.  It  was  also 
to  be  observed,  that  although  the  three  grooms,  who 
had  caught  the  steed  as  he  fled  from  the  conflagration 
at  Berlifitzing,  had  succeeded  in  arresting  his  course 
by  means  of  a  chain-bridle  and  noose — yet  no  one  of 
the  three  could  with  any  certainty  affirm  that  he  had, 
during  that  dangerous  struggle,  or  at  any  period  there- 
after, actually  placed  his  hand  upon  the  body  of  the 
beast.  Instances  of  peculiar  intelligence  in  the  de- 
meanor of  a  noble  and  high-spirited  horse  are  not  to 
be  supposed  capable  of  exciting  unreasonable  attention, 
but  there  were  certain  circumstances  which  intruded 
themselves  per  force  upon  the  most  skeptical  and  phleg- 
matic ;  and  it  is  said  there  were  times  when  the  animal 
caused  the  gaping  crowd  who  stood  around  to  recoil 
in  horror  from  the  deep  and  impressive  meaning  of 
his  terrible  stamp — times  when  the  young  Metzenger- 
stein  turned  pale  and  shrunk  away  from  the  rapid  and 
searching  expression  of  his  earnest  and  human-looking 
eye. 

Among  all  the  retinue  of  the  Baron,  however,  none 
were  found  to  doubt  the  ardor  of  that  extraordinary 
affection  which  existed  on  the  part  of  the  young  noble- 
man for  the  fiery  qualities  of  his  horse ;  at  least  none 
but  an  insignificant  and  misshapen  little  page,  whose 
deformities  were  in  everybody's  way,  and  whose  opinions 
were  of  the  least  possible  importance.  He  (if  his  ideas 
are  worth  mentioning  at  all)  had  the  effrontery  to 


METZENGERSTEIN.  109 

assert  that  his  master  never  vaulted  into  the  saddle 
without  an  unaccountable  and  almost  imperceptible 
shudder;  and  that,  upon  his  return  from  every  long- 
continued  and  habitual  ride,  an  expression  of  trium- 
phant malignity  distorted  every  muscle  in  his  coun- 
tenance. 

One  tempestuous  night  Metzengerstein,  awaking  from 
heavy  slumber,  descended  like  a  maniac  from  his  cham- 
ber, and  mounting  in  hot  haste,  bounded  away  into  the 
mazes  of  the  forest.  An  occurrence  so  common  at- 
tracted no  particular  attention,  but  his  return  was 
looked  for  with  intense  anxiety  on  the  part  of  his  do- 
mestics, when,  after  some  hours'  absence,  the  stupend- 
ous and  magnificent  battlements  of  the  Palace  Metzen- 
gerstein were  discovered  crackling  and  rocking  to  their 
very  foundation  under  the  influence  of  a  dense  and  livid 
mass  of  ungovernable  fire. 

As  the  flames,  when  first  seen,  had  already  made  so 
terrible  a  progress  that  all  efforts  to  save  any  portion  of 
the  building  were  evidently  futile,  the  astonished  neigh- 
borhood stood  idly  round  in  silent,  if  not  apathetic 
wonder.  But  a  new  and  fearful  object  soon  riveted  the 
attention  of  the  multitude,  and  proved  how  much  more 
intense  is  the  excitement  wrought  in  the  feelings  of  a 
crowd  by  the  contemplation  of  human  agony  than  that 
brought  about  by  the  most  appalling  spectacles  of  inani- 
mate matter. 

Up  the  long  avenue  of  aged  oaks  which  led  from  the 
forest  to  the  main  entrance  of  the  Palace  Metzengerstein, 
a  steed,  bearing  an  unbonneted  and  disordered  rider, 
was  seen  leaping  with  an  impetuosity  which  outstripped 
the  very  Demon  of  the  Tempest. 

The  career  of  the  horseman  was  indisputably,  on  his 
own  part,  uncontrollable.  The  agony  of  his  countenance, 


110  METZENGERSTEIN. 

the  convulsive  struggle  of  his  frame,  gave  evidence  of 
superhuman  exertion;  but  no  sound,  save  a  solitary 
shriek,  escaped  from  his  lacerated  lips,  which  were  bitten 
through  and  through  in  the  intensity  of  terror.  One 
instant,  and  the  clattering  of  hoofs  resounded  sharply 
and  shrilly  above  the  roaring  of  the  flames  and  the 
shrieking  of  the  winds — another,  and  clearing  at  a  single 
plunge  the  gateway  and  the  moat,  the  steed  bounded  far 
up  the  tottering  staircases  of  the  palace,  and,  with  its 
rider,  disappeared  amid  the  whirlwind  of  chaotic  fire. 

The  fury  of  the  tempest  immediately  died  away,  and 
a  dead  calm  suddenly  succeeded.  A  white  flame  still 
enveloped  the  building  like  a  shroud,  and,  streaming 
far  away  into  the  quiet  atmosphere,  shot  forth  a  glare 
of  preternatural  light ;  while  a  cloud  of  smoke  settled 
heavily  over  the  battlements  in  the  distinct  colossal 
figure  of — a  horse. 


THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  faculties  and  impulses — 
of  the  prima  mobilia  of  the  human  soul,  the  phrenol- 
ogists have  failed  to  make  room  for  a  propensity 
which,  although  obviously  existing  as  a  radical,  primi- 
tive, irreducible  sentiment,  has  been  equally  overlooked 
by  all  the  moralists  who  have  preceded  them.  In  the 
pure  arrogance  of  the  reason,  we  have  all  overlooked 
it.  We  have  suffered  existence  to  escape  our  senses 
solely  through  want  of  belief — of  faith ;  whether  it  be 
faith  in  revelation,  or  faith  in  the  Kabbala.  The  idea 
of  it  has  never  occurred  to  us,  simply  because  of  its 
supererogation.  We  saw  no  need  of  the  impulse — for 
the  propensity.  We  could,  not  perceive  its  necessity. 
We  could  not  understand,  that  is  to  say,  we  could  not 
have  understood  had  the  notion  of  this  primum  mobile 
ever  obtruded  itself;  we  could  not  have  understood  in 
what  manner  it  might  be  made  to  further  the  objects 
of  humanity,  either  temporal  or  eternal.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  phrenology,  and  in  a  great  measure,  all 
metaphysicianism,  have  been  concocted  a  priori.  The 
intellectual  or  logical  man,  rather  than  the  understand- 
ing or  observant  man,  set  himself  to  imagine  designs 
— to  dictate  purposes  to  God.  Having  thus  fathomed 
to  his  satisfaction  the  intentions  of  Jehovah,  out  of 
these  intentions  he  built  his  innumerable  systems  of 
mind.  In  the  matter  of  phrenology,  for  example,  we 
first  determined,  naturally  enough,  that  it  was  the 
(111) 


112  THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE. 

design  of  the  Deity  that  man  should  eat. — We  then 
assigned  to  man  an  organ  of  alimentiveness,  and  this 
organ  is  the  scourge  with  which  the  Deity  compels 
man,  will  I  nill  I,  into  eating.  Secondly,  having 
settled  it  to  be  God's  will  that  man  should  continue 
his  species,  we  discovered  an  organ  of  amativeness, 
forthwith ;  and  so  with  combativeness,  with  ideality, 
with  causality,  with  constructiveness, — so,  in  short 
with  every  organ,  whether  representing  a  propensity, 
a  moral  sentiment,  or  a  faculty  of  the  pure  intellect. 
And  in  these  arrangements  of  the  principia  of  human 
action,  the  Spurzheimites,  whether  right  or  wrong,  in 
part  or  upon  the  whole,  have  but  followed  in  princi- 
ple the  footsteps  of  their  predecessors,  deducing  and 
establishing  everything  from  the  preconceived  destiny 
of  man,  and  upon  the  ground  of  the  objects  of  his 
Creator. 

It  would  have  been  wiser,  it  would  have  been  safer 
to  classify  (if  classify  we  must)  upon  the  basis  of  what 
man  usually  or  occasionally  did,  and  was  always 
occasionally  doing,  rather  than  upon  the  basis  of  what 
we  took  it  for  granted  the  Deity  intended  him  to  do. 
If  we  cannot  comprehend  God  in  His  visible  works, 
how  then  in  His  inconceivable  thoughts  that  call  the 
works  into  being?  If  we  cannot  understand  Him  in 
His  objective  creatures,  how  then  in  His  substantive 
moods  and  phases  of  creation  ? 

Induction,  d  posteriori,  would  have  brought  phrenol- 
ogy to  admit,  as  an  innate  and  primitive  principle  of 
human  action,  a  paradoxical  something  which  we  may 
call  perverseness,  for  want  of  a  more  characteristic 
term.  In  the  sense  I  intend  it  is,  in  fact  a  mobile 
without  motive,  a  motive  not  motivirt.  Through  its 
promptings  we  act  without  comprehensible  object;  or, 


THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE.  113 

if  this  shall  be  understood  as  a  contradiction  in  terms, 
we  may  so  far  modify  the  proposition  as  to  say  that 
through  its  promptings  we  act  for  the  reason  that  we 
should  not.  In  theory,  no  reason  can  be  more  un- 
reasonable; but,  in  fact,  there  is  none  more  strong. 
With  certain  minds,  under  certain  conditions,  it  be- 
comes absolutely  irresistible.  I  am  not  more  certain 
that  I  breathe  than  that  the  assurance  of  the  wrong  or 
error  of  any  action  is  often  the  one  unconquerable 
force  which  impels  us,  and  alone  impels  us  to  its  pros- 
ecution. Nor  will  this  overwhelming  tendency  to  do 
wrong  for  the  wrong's  sake  admit  of  analysis  or 
resolution  into  ulterior  elements.  It  is  a  radical,  a 
primitive  impulse — elementary.  It  will  be  said,  I  am 
aware,  that  when  we  persist  in  acts  because  we  feel  we 
should  not  persist  in  them,  our  conduct  is  but  a  modi- 
fication of  that  which  ordinarily  springs  from  the  com- 
bativeness  of  phrenology.  But  a  glance  will  show  the 
fallacy  of  this  idea.  The  phrenological  combativeness 
has  for  its  essence  the  necessity  of  self-defence.  It  is 
our  safeguard  against  injury.  Its  principle  regards 
our  well-being;  and  thus  the  desire  to  be  well  is 
excited  simultaneously  with  its  development.  It  fol- 
lows that  the  desire  to  be  well  must  be  excited  simulta- 
neously with  any  principle  which  shall  be  merely  a 
modification  of  combativeness,  but  in  the  case  of  that 
something  which  I  term  perverseness,  the  desire  to  be 
well  is  not  only  not  aroused,  but  a  strongly  antagonisti- 
cal  sentiment  exists. 

An  appeal  to  one's  own  heart  is  after  all  the  best  reply 
to  the  sophistry  just  noticed.  No  one  who  trustingly 
consults  and  thoroughly  questions  his  own  soul,  will 
be  disposed  to  deny  the  entire  radicalness  of  the  pro- 
pensity in  question.  It  is  not  more  incomprehensible 
Vol.  i.— 8. 


114  THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE. 

than  distinctive.  There  lives  no  man  who  at  some 
period  has  not  been  tormented,  for  example,  by  an 
earnest  desire  to  tantalize  a  listener  by  circumlocution. 
The  speaker  is  aware  that  he  displeases ;  he  has  every 
intention  to  please;  he  is  usually  curt,  precise,  and 
clear;  the  most  laconic  and  luminous  language  is 
struggling  for  utterance  upon  his  tongue ;  it  is  only 
with  difficulty  that  he  restrains  himself  from  giving  it 
flow ;  he  dreads  and  deprecates  the  anger  of  him  whom 
he  addresses ;  yet  the  thought  strikes  him  that,  by  cer- 
tain involutions  and  parentheses,  this  anger  may  be 
engendered.  That  single  thought  is  enough.  The 
impulse  increases  to  a  wish,  the  wish  to  a  desire,  the 
desire  to  an  uncontrollable  longing,  and  the  longing 
(to  the  deep  regret  and  mortification  of  the  speaker, 
and  in  defiance  of  all  consequences)  is  indulged. 

We  have  a  task  before  us  which  must  be  speedily 
performed.  We  know  that  it  will  be  ruinous  to  make 
delay.  The  most  important  crisis  of  our  life  calls, 
trumpet-tongued,  for  immediate  energy  and  action. 
We  glow,  we  are  consumed  with  eagerness  to  commence 
the  work,  with  the  anticipation  of  whose  glorious  re- 
sult our  whole  souls  are  on  fire.  It  must,  it  shall  be 
undertaken  to-day,  and  yet  we  put  it  off  until 
to-morrow ;  and  why  ?  There  is  no  answer  except 
that  we  feel  perverse,  using  the  word  with  no  compre- 
hension of  the  principle.  To-morrow  arrives,  and  with 
it  a  more  impatient  anxiety  to  do  our  duty,  but  with 
this  very  increase  of  anxiety  arrives,  also,  a  nameless,  a 
positively  fearful,  because  unfathomable,  craving  for 
delay.  This  craving  gathers  strength  as  the  moments 
fly.  The  last  hour  for  action  is  at  hand.  We  tremble 
with  the  violence  of  the  conflict  within  us— of  the 
definite  with  the  indefinite — of  the  substance  with  the 


THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE.  115 

shadow.  But,  if  the  contest  have  proceeded  thus  far, 
it  is  the  shadow  which  prevails — we  struggle  in  vain. 
The  clock  strikes,  and  is  the  knell  of  our  welfare.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  the  chanticleer-note  to  the  ghost 
that  has  so  long  overawed  us.  It  flies — it  disappears 
— we  are  free.  The  old  energy  returns.  We  will  labor 
now.  Alas,  it  is  too  late  ! 

We  stand  upon  the  brink  of  a  precipice.  We  peer 
into  the  abyss — we  grow  sick  and  dizzy.  Our  first 
impulse  is  to  shrink  from  the  danger.  Unaccountably 
we  remain.  By  slow  degrees  our  sickness,  and  dizzi- 
ness, and  horror,  become  merged  in  a  cloud  of  unnam- 
able  feeling.  By  gradations,  still  more  imperceptible, 
this  cloud  assumes  shape,  as  did  the  vapor  from  the 
bottle  out  of  which  arose  the  genius  in  the  Arabian 
Nights.  But  out  of  this  our  cloud  upon  the  precipice's 
edge  there  grows  into  palpability  a  shape,  far  more 
terrible  than  any  genius,  or  any  demon  of  a  tale,  and 
yet  it  is  but  a  thought,  although  a  fearful  one,  and 
one  which  chills  the  very  marrow  of  our  bones  with 
the  fierceness  of  the  delight  of  its  horror.  It  is  merely 
the  idea  of  what  would  be  our  sensations  during  the 
sweeping  precipitancy  of  a  fall  from  such  a  height; 
and  this  fall — this  rushing  annihilation — for  the  very 
reason  that  it  involves  that  one  most  ghastly  and 
loathsome  of  all  the  most  ghastly  and  loathsome 
images  of  death  and  suffering  which  have  ever  pre- 
sented themselves  to  our  imagination — for  this  very 
cause  do  we  now  the  most  vividly  desire  it ;  and  be- 
cause our  reason  violently  deters  us  from  the  brink, 
therefore  do  we  the  more  impetuously  approach  it. 
There  is  no  passion  in  nature  so  demoniacally  impatient 
as  that  of  him,  who  shuddering  upon  the  edge  of  a 
precipice,  thus  meditates  a  plunge.  To  indulge  for  a 


116  THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE. 

moment  in  any  attempt  at  thought  is  to  be  inevitably 
lost ;  for  reflection  but  urges  us  to  forbear,  and  therefore 
it  is  I  say  that  we  cannot.  If  there  be  no  friendly  arm 
to  check  us,  or  if  we  fail  in  a  sudden  effort  to  prostrate 
ourselves  backward  from  the  abyss,  we  plunge  and  are 
destroyed. 

Examine  these  and  similar  actions  as  we  will,  we 
shall  find  them  resulting  solely  from  the  spirit  of  the 
perverse.  We  perpetrate  them  merely  because  we  feel 
that  we  should  not.  Beyond  or  behind  this  there  is  no 
intelligible  principle ;  and  we  might  indeed  deem  this 
perverseness  a  direct  instigation  of  the  arch-fiend,  were 
it  not  occasionally  known  to  operate  in  furtherance 
of  good. 

I  have  said  thus  much,  that  in  some  measure  I  may 
answer  your  question — that  I  may  explain  to  you  why  I 
am  here — that  I  may  assign  to  you  something  that  shall 
have  at  least  the  faint  aspect  of  a  cause  for  my  wearing 
these  fetters,  and  for  my  tenanting  this  cell  of  the  con- 
demned Had  I  not  been  thus  prolix,  you  might  either 
have  misunderstood  me  altogether,  or  with  the  rabble 
have  fancied  me  mad.  As  it  is,  you  will  easily  perceive 
that  I  am  one  of  the  many  uncounted  victims  of  the 
Imp  of  the  Perverse. 

It  is  impossible  that  any  deed  could  have  been 
wrought  with  a  more  thorough  deliberation.  For 
weeks,  for  months,  I  pondered  upon  the  means  of  the 
murder.  I  rejected  a  thousand  schemes  because  their 
accomplishment  involved  a  chance  of  detection.  At 
length,  in  reading  some  French  memoirs,  I  found  an 
account  of  a  nearly '  fatal  illness  that  occurred  to 
Madame  Pilau,  through  the  agency  of  a  candle  acci- 
dentally poisoned.  The  idea  struck  my  fancy  at  once. 
I  knew  my  victim's  habit  of  reading  in  bed.  I  knew, 


THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE.  117 

too,  that  his  apartment  was  narrow  and  ill-ventilated. 
But  I  need  not  vex  you  with  impertinent  details.  I 
need  not  describe  the  easy  artifices  by  which  I  substi- 
tuted, in  his  bedroom  candlestand,  a  wax  light  of  my 
own  making  for  the  one  which  I  there  found.  The 
next  morning  he  was  discovered  dead  in  his  bed  and 
the  coroner's  verdict  was — "  Death  by  the  visitation  of 
God." 

Having  inherited  his  estate  all  went  well  with  me 
for  years.  The  idea  of  detection  never  once  entered 
my  brain.  Of  the  remains  of  the  fatal  taper,  I  had 
myself  carefully  disposed.  I  had  left  no  shadow  of  a 
clue  by  which  it  would  be  possible  to  convict,  or  even 
to  suspect  me  of  the  crime.  It  is  inconceivable  how 
rich  a  sentiment  of  satisfaction  arose  in  my  bosom  as 
I  reflected  upon  my  absolute  security.  For  a  very 
long  period  of  time  I  was  accustomed  to  revel  in  this 
sentiment.  It  afforded  me  more  real  delight  than  all 
the  mere  worldly  advantages  accruing  from  my  sin. 
But  there  arrived  at  length  an  epoch  from  which  the 
pleasurable  feeling  grew,  by  scarcely  perceptible 
gradations,  into  a  haunting  and  harassing  thought. 
It  harassed  because  it  haunted.  I-  could  scarcely  get 
rid  of  it  for  an  instant.  It  is  quite  a  common  thing 
to  be  thus  annoyed  with  the  ringing  in  our  ears,  or 
rather  in  our  memories,  of  the  burthen  of  some  ordinary 
song  or  some  unimpressive  snatches  from  an  opera. 
Nor  will  we  be  the  less  tormented  if  the  song  in  itself  be 
good,  or  the  opera  air  meritorious.  In  this  manner,  at 
last,  I  would  perpetually  catch  myself  pondering  upon 
my  security,  and  repeating  in  a  low  under-tone  the 
phrase,  "  I  am  safe." 

One  day  whilst  sauntering  along  the  streets,  I 
arrested  myself  in  the  act  of  murmuring  half-aloud 


118  THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE. 

these  customary  syllables.  In  a  fit  of  petulance  I  re- 
modeled them  thus : — "  I  am  safe — I  am  safe — yes,  if  I 
be  not  fool  enough  to  make  open  confession  1 " 

No  sooner  had  I  spoken  these  words  than  I  felt  an 
icy  chill  creep  to  my  heart.  I  had  had  some  experi- 
ence in  these  fits  of  perversity  (whose  nature  I  have 
been  at  some  trouble  to  explain),  and  I  remembered 
well  that  in  no  instance  I  had  successfully  resisted  their 
attacks ;  and  now  my  own  casual  self-suggestion,  that  I 
might  possibly  be  fool  enough  to  confess  the  murder  of 
which  I  had  been  guilty  confronted  me,  as  if  the  very 
ghost  of  him  whom  I  had  murdered — and  beckoned  me 
on  to  death. 

At  first  I  made  an  effort  to  shake  off  this  nightmare 
of  the  soul.  I  walked  vigorously,  faster,  still  faster,  at 
length  I  ran.  I  felt  a  maddening  desire  to  shriek 
aloud.  Every  succeeding  wave  of  thought  overwhelmed 
me  with  new  terror,  for  alas !  I  well,  too  well,  under- 
stood that  to  think  in  my  situation  was  to  be  lost.  I 
still  quickened  my  pace.  I  bounded  like  a  madman 
through  the  crowded  thoroughfares.  At  length  the 
populace  took  the  alarm  and  pursued  me.  I  felt  then 
the  consummation  of  my  fate.  Could  I  have  torn  out 
my  tongue  I  would  have  done  it — but  a  rough  voice 
resounded  in  my  ears — a  rougher  grasp  seized  me  by 
the  shoulder.  I  turned — I  gasped  for  breath.  For  a 
moment  I  experienced  all  the  pangs  of  suffocation;  I 
became  blind  and  deaf  and  giddy ;  and  then  some  in- 
visible fiend,  I  thought,  struck  me  with  his  broad  palm 
upon  the  back.  The  long-imprisoned  secret  burst  forth 
from  my  soul. 

They  say  that  I  spoke  with  a  distinct  enunciation, 
but  with  marked  emphasis  and  passionate  hurry,  as  if 
in  dread  of  interruption  before  concluding  the  brief 


THE  IMP  OF  THE  PERVERSE.  119 

but  pregnant  sentences  that  consigned  me  to  the  hang- 
man and  to  hell. 

Having  related  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  fullest 
judicial  conviction,  I  fell  prostrate  in  a  swoon. 

But  why  shall  I  say  more?  To-day  I  wear  these 
chains  and  am  here  !  To-morrow  I  shall  be  fetterless ! 
— but  where  f 


Wo6el.pinx 


-  OF  USHER 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

Son  cceur  est  un  luth  suspendu ; 

Sitdt  qu'on  le  touche  il  rSsonne.— DE  BERANGEE. 

During  the  whole  of  a  dull,  dark,  and  soundless  day 
in  the  autumn  of  the  year,  when  the  clouds  hung 
oppressively  low  in  the  heavens,  I  had  been  passing 
alone,  on  horseback,  through  a  singularly  dreary  tract 
of  country,  and  at  length  found  myself,  as  the  shades 
of  evening  drew  on,  within  view  of  the  melancholy 
House  of  Usher.  I  know  not  how  it  was — but,  with 
the  first  glimpse  of  the  building,  a  sense  of  insufferable 
gloom  pervaded  my  spirit.  I  say  insufferable ;  for  the 
feeling  was  unrelieved  by  any  of  that  half-pleasurable, 
because  poetic  sentiment,  with  which  the  mind  usually 
receives  even  the  sternest  natural  images  of  the  desolate 
or  terrible.  I  looked  upon  the  scene  before  me — upon 
the  mere  house,  and  the  simple  landscape  features  of 
the  domain — upon  the  bleak  walls — upon  the  vacant 
eye-like  windows — upon  a  few  rank  sedges — and  upon 
a  few  white  trunks  of  decayed  trees — with  an  utter 
depression  of  soul  which  I  can  compare  to  no  earthly 
sensation  more  properly  than  to  the  after-dream  of  the 
reveler  upon  opium — the  bitter  lapse  into  every-day 
life — the  hideous  dropping  of  the  veil.  There  was  an 
iciness,  a  sinking,  a  sickening  of  the  heart — an  un- 
redeemed dreariness  of  thought  which  no  goading  of 
the  imagination  could  torture  into  aught  of  the  sub- 
lime. What  was  it — I  paused  to  think — what  it  was 
(121) 


122       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

that  so  unnerved  me  in  the  contemplation  of  the  House 
of  Usher  ?  it  was  a  mystery  all  insoluble ;  nor  could  I 
grapple  with  the  shadowy  fancies  that  crowded  upon 
me  as  I  pondered.  I  was  forced  to  fall  back  upon  the 
unsatisfactory  conclusion,  that  while,  beyond  doubt, 
there  are  combinations  of  very  simple  natural  objects 
which  have  the  power  of  thus  affecting  us,  still  the 
analysis  of  this  power  lies  among  considerations  beyond 
our  depth.  It  was  possible,  I  reflected,  that  a  mere  dif- 
ferent arrangement  of  the  particulars  of  the  scene,  of 
the  details  of  the  picture,  would  be  sufficient  to  modify, 
or  perhaps  to  annihilate,  its  capacity  for  sorrowful  im- 
pression ;  and,  acting  upon  this  idea,  I  reined  my  horse 
to  the  precipitous  brink  of  a  black  and  lurid  tarn  that 
lay  in  unruffled  lustre  by  the  dwelling,  and  gazed  down 
— but  with  a  shudder  more  thrilling  than  before — upon 
the  remodeled  and  inverted  images  of  the  gray  sedge, 
and  the  ghastly  tree-stems,  and  the  vacant  and  eye-like 
windows. 

Nevertheless,  in  this  mansion  of  gloom  I  now  pro- 
posed to  myself  a  sojourn  of  some  weeks.  Its  proprietor, 
Roderick  Usher,  had  been  one  of  my  boon  companions 
in  boyhood  ;  but  many  years  had  elapsed  since  our  last 
meeting.  A  letter,  however,  had  lately  reached  me 
in  a  distant  part  of  the  country — a  letter  from  him — 
which,  in  its  wildly  importunate  nature,  had  admitted 
of  no  other  than  a  personal  reply.  The  MS.  gave 
evidence  of  nervous  agitation.  The  writer  spoke  of 
acute  bodily  illness — of  a  mental  disorder  which  op- 
pressed him — and  of  an  earnest  desire  to  see  me,  as  his 
best,  and  indeed  his  only  personal  friend,  with  a  view 
of  attempting,  by  the  cheerfulness  of  my  society,  some 
alleviation  of  his  malady.  It  was  the  manner  in  which 
all  this,  and  much  more,  was  said — it  was  the  apparent 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       123 

heart  that  went  with  his  request — which  allowed  me  no 
room  for  hesitation,  and  I  accordingly  obeyed  forthwith 
what  I  still  considered  a  very  singular  summons. 

Although,  as  boys,  we  had  been  even  intimate  asso- 
ciates, yet  I  really  knew  little  of  my  friend.  His  re- 
serve had  been  always  excessive  and  habitual.  I  was 
aware,  however,  that  his  very  ancient  family  had  been 
noted,  time  out  of  mind,  for  a  peculiar  sensibility  of 
temperament,  displaying  itself  through  long  ages  in 
many  works  of  exalted  art,  and  manifested  of  late  in 
repeated  deeds  of  munificent  yet  unobtrusive  charity, 
as  well  as  in  a  passionate  devotion  to  the  intricacies, 
perhaps  even  more  than  to  the  orthodox  and  easily 
recognizable  beauties  of  musical  science.  I  had  learned, 
too,  the  very  remarkable  fact  that  the  stem  of  the  Usher 
race,  all  time-honored  as  it  was,  had  put  forth  at  no 
period  any  enduring  branch ;  in  other  words,  that  the 
entire  family  lay  in  the  direct  line  of  descent,  and  had 
always,  with  very  trifling  and  very  temporary  variation, 
so  lain.  It  was  this  deficiency,  I  considered,  while  run- 
ning over  in  thought  the  perfect  keeping  of  the  character 
of  the  premises  with  the  accredited  character  of  the 
people,  and  while  speculating  upon  the  possible  influ- 
ence which  the  one,  in  the  long  lapse  of  centuries,  might 
have  exercised  upon  the  other — it  was  this  deficiency 
perhaps  of  collateral  issue,  and  the  consequent  undevi- 
ating  transmission  from  sire  to  son  of  the  patrimony 
with  the  name,  which  had  at  length  so  identified  the 
two  as  to  merge  the  original  title  of  the  estate  in  the 
quaint  and  equivocal  appellation  of  the  "  House  of 
Usher" — an  appellation  which  seemed  to  include,  in 
the  minds  of  the  peasantry  who  used  it,  both  the  family 
and  the  family  mansion. 

I  have  said  that  the  sole  effect  of  my  somewhat 


124       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

childish  experiment — that  of  looking  down  within  the 
tarn — had  been  to  deepen  the  first  singular  impression. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  consciousness  of  the 
rapid  increase  of  my  superstition — for  why  should  I  not 
so  term  it? — served  mainly  to  accelerate  the  increase 
itself.  Such  I  have  long  known,  is  the  paradoxical  law 
of  all  sentiments  having  terror  as  a  basis ;  and  it  might 
have  been  for  this  reason  only  that,  when  I  again  up- 
lifted my  eyes  to  the  house  itself  from  its  image  in  the 
pool,  there  grew  in  my  mind  a  strange  fancy — a  fancy 
so  ridiculous  indeed  that  I  but  mention  it  to  show  the 
vivid  force  of  the  sensations  which  oppressed  me.  I 
had  so  worked  upon  my  imagination  as  really  to  believe 
that  about  the  whole  mansion  and  domain  there  hung 
an  atmosphere  peculiar  to  themselves  and  their  imme- 
diate vicinity — an  atmosphere  which  had  no  affinity 
with  the  air  of  heaven,  but  which  had  reeked  up  from 
the  decayed  trees,  and  the  gray  wall,  and  the  silent  tarn 
— a  pestilent  and  mystic  vapor,  dull,  sluggish,  faintly 
discernible,  and  leaden  hued. 

Shaking  off  from  my  spirit  what  must  have  been  a 
dream,  I  scanned  more  narrowly  the  real  aspect  of  the 
building.  Its  principal  feature  seemed  to  be  that  of 
an  excessive  antiquity.  The  discoloration  of  ages  had 
been  great.  Minute  fungi  overspread  the  whole  ex- 
terior, hanging  in  a  fine  tangled  web-work  from  the 
eaves.  Yet  all  this  was  apart  from  any  extraordinary 
dilapidation.  No  portion  of  the  masonry  had  fallen, 
and  there  appeared  to  be  a  wild  inconsistency  between 
its  still  perfect  adaptation  of  parts  and  the  crumbling 
condition  of  the  individual  stones.  In  this  there  was 
much  that  reminded  me  of  the  spacious  totality  of  old 
woodwork  which  has  rotted  for  long  years  in  some 
neglected  vault  with  no  disturbance  from  the  breath 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       125 

of  the  external  air.  Beyond  this  indication  of  exten- 
sive decay,  however,  the  fabric  gave  little  token  of 
instability.  Perhaps  the  eye  of  a  scrutinizing  observer 
might  have  discovered  a  barely  perceptible  fissure,  which, 
extending  from  the  roof  of  the  building  in  front,  made 
its  way  down  the  wall  in  a  zigzag  direction,  until  it 
became  lost  in  the  sullen  waters  of  the  tarn. 

Noticing  these  things,  I  rode  over  a  short  causeway 
to  the  house.  A  servant  in  waiting  took  my  horse,  and 
I  entered  the  Gothic  archway  of  the  hall.  A  valet,  of 
stealthy  step,  thence  conducted  me  in  my  silence  through 
many  dark  and  intricate  passages  in  my  progress  to  the 
studio  of  his  master.  Much  that  I  encountered  on 
the  way  contributed,  I  know  not  how,  to  heighten  the 
vague  sentiments  of  which  I  have  already  spoken. 
While  the  objects  around  me — while  the  carvings  of  the 
ceilings,  the  sombre  tapestries  of  the  walls,  the  ebon 
blackness  of  the  floors,  and  the  phantasmagoric  armorial 
trophies  which  rattled  as  I  strode,  were  but  matters  to 
which,  or  to  such  as  which,  I  had  been  accustomed 
from  my  infancy — while  I  hesitated  not  to  acknowledge 
how  familiar  was  all  this — I  still  wondered  to  find  how 
unfamiliar  were  the  fancies  which  ordinary  images  were 
stirring  up.  On  one  of  the  staircases  I  met  the  physi- 
cian of  the  family.  His  countenance,  I  thought,  wore  a 
mingled  expression  of  low  cunning  and  perplexity.  He 
accosted  me  with  trepidation  and  passed  on.  The  valet 
now  threw  open  a  door  and  ushered  me  into  the  presence 
of  his  master. 

The  room  in  which  I  found  myself  was  very  large 
and  lofty.  The  windows  were  long,  narrow,  and  pointed, 
and  at  so  vast  a  distance  from  the  black  oaken  floor 
as  to  be  altogether  inaccessible  from  within.  Feeble 
gleams  of  encrimsoned  light  made  their  way  through 


126      THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

the  trellised  panes,  and  served  to  render  sufficiently 
distinct  the  more  prominent  objects  around ;  the  eye, 
however,  struggled  in  vain  to  reach  the  remoter  angles 
of  the  chamber,  or  the  recesses  of  the  vaulted  and  fretted 
ceiling.  Dark  draperies  hung  upon  the  walls.  The 
general  furniture  was  profuse,  comfortless,  antique,  and 
tattered.  Many  books  and  musical  instruments  lay 
scattered  about,  but  failed  to  give  any  vitality  to  the 
scene.  I  felt  that  I  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  sorrow. 
An  air  of  stern,  deep,  and  irredeemable  gloom  hung 
over  and  pervaded  all. 

Upon  my  entrance,  Usher  arose  from  a  sofa  on 
which  he  had  been  lying  at  full  length,  and  greeted  me 
with  a  vivacious  warmth  which  had  much  in  it,  I  at 
first  thought,  of  an  overdone  cordiality — of  the  con- 
strained effort  of  the  ennuye  man  of  the  world.  A 
glance,  however,  at  his  countenance  convinced  me  of 
his  perfect  sincerity.  We  sat  down;  and  for  some 
moments,  while  he  spoke  not,  I  gazed  upon  him  with 
a  feeling  half  of  pity,  half  of  awe.  Surely,  man  had 
never  before  so  terribly  altered,  in  so  brief  a  period,  as 
had  Roderick  Usher!  It  was  with  difficulty  that  I 
could  bring  myself  to  admit  the  identity  of  the  wan 
being  before  me  with  the  companion  of  my  early  boy- 
hood. Yet  the  character  of  his  face  had  been  at  all 
times  remarkable.  A  cadaverousness  of  complexion; 
an  eye  large,  liquid,  and  luminous  beyond  comparison ; 
lips  somewhat  thin  and  very  pallid,  but  of  a  surpass- 
ingly beautiful  curve;  a  nose  of  a  delicate  Hebrew 
model,  but  with  a  breadth  of  nostril  unusual  in  similar 
formations;  a  finely  moulded  chin,  speaking,  in  its 
want  of  prominence,  of  a  want  of  moral  energy ;  hair 
of  a  more  than  web-like  softness  and  tenuity ;  these 
features,  with  an  inordinate  expansion  above  the 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       127 

regions  of  the  temple,  made  up  altogether  a  counte- 
nance not  easily  to  be  forgotten.  And  now  in  the 
mere  exaggeration  of  the  prevailing  character  of  these 
features,  and  of  the  expression  they  were  wont  to  con- 
vey, lay  so  much  of  change  that  I  doubted  to  whom  I 
spoke.  The  now  ghastly  pallor  of  the  skin,  and  the 
now  miraculous  lustre  of  the  eye,  above  all  things 
startled  and  even  awed  me.  The  silken  hair,  too,  had 
been  suffered  to  grow  all  unheeded,  and  as,  in  its  wild 
gossamer  texture,  it  floated  rather  than  fell  about  the 
face,  I  could  not,  even  with  effort,  connect  its  Arabesque 
expression  with  any  idea  of  simple  humanity. 

In  the  manner  of  my  friend  I  was  at  once  struck 
with  an  incoherence — an  inconsistency;  and  I  soon 
found  this  to  arise  from  a  series  of  feeble  and  futile 
struggles  to  overcome  an  habitual  trepidancy — an  ex- 
cessive nervous  agitation.  For  something  of  this  nature 
I  had  indeed  been  prepared,  no  less  by  his  letter  than 
by  reminiscences  of  certain  boyish  traits,  and  by  con- 
clusions deduced  from  his  peculiar  physical  conforma- 
tion and  temperament.  His  action  was  alternately 
vivacious  and  sullen.  His  voice  varied  rapidly  from 
a  tremulous  indecision  (when  the  animal  spirits  seemed 
utterly  in  abeyance)  to  that  species  of  energetic  con- 
cision— that  abrupt,  weighty,  unhurried,  and  hollow- 
sounding  enunciation — that  leaden,  self-balanced  and 
perfectly  modulated  guttural  utterance  which  may  be 
observed  in  the  lost  drunkard,  or  the  irreclaimable 
eater  of  opium,  during  the  periods  of  his  most  intense 
excitement. 

It  was  thus  that  he  spoke  of  the  object  of  my  visit, 
of  his  earnest  desire  to  see  me,  and  of  the  solace  he 
expected  me  to  afford  him.  He  entered  at  some  length 
into  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  nature  of  his  malady. 


128       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

It  was,  he  said,  a  constitutional  and  a  family  evil,  and 
one  for  which  he  despaired  to  find  a  remedy — a  mere 
nervous  affection,  he  immediately  added,  which  would 
undoubtedly  soon  pass  off.  It  displayed  itself  in  a  host 
of  unnatural  sensations.  Some  of  these,  as  he  detailed 
them,  interested  and  bewildered  me ;  although  perhaps 
the  terms  and  the  general  manner  of  the  narration  had 
their  weight.  He  suffered  much  from  a  morbid  acute- 
ness  of  the  senses;  the  most  insipid  food  was  alone 
endurable;  he  could  wear  only  garments  of  certain 
texture ;  the  odors  of  all  flowers  were  oppressive ; 
his  eyes  were  tortured  by  even  a  faint  light;  and 
there  were  but  peculiar  sounds,  and  these  from 
stringed  instruments,  which  did  not  inspire  him  with 
horror. 

To  an  anomalous  species  of  terror  I  found  him 
a  bounden  slave.  "  I  shall  perish,"  said  he,  "  I  must 
perish  in  this  deplorable  folly.  Thus,  thus,  and  not 
otherwise,  shall  I  be  lost.  I  dread  the  events  of  the 
future,  not  in  themselves,  but  in  their  results.  I 
shudder  at  the  thought  of  any,  even  the  most  trivial 
incident,  which  may  operate  upon  this  intolerable 
agitation  of  soul.  I  have  indeed  no  abhorrence  of 
danger,  except  in  its  absolute  effect — in  terror.  In  this 
unnerved — in  this  pitiable  condition — I  feel  that  the 
period  will  sooner  or  later  arrive  when  I  must  abandon 
life  and  reason  together  in  some  struggle  with  the  grim 
phantasm,  FEAR." 

I  learned,  moreover,  at  intervals,  and  through  broken 
and  equivocal  hints,  another  singular  feature  of  his 
mental  condition.  He  was  enchained  by  certain 
superstitious  impressions  in  regard  to  the  dwelling 
which  he  tenanted,  and  whence,  for  many  years,  he 
had  never  ventured  forth — in  regard  to  an  influence 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       129 

whose  supposititious  force  was  conveyed  in  terms  too 
shadowy  here  to  be  re-stated — an  influence  which  some 
peculiarities  in  the  mere  form  and  substance  of  his 
family  mansion,  had,  by  dint  of  long  sufferance,  he 
said,  obtained  over  his  spirit — an  effect  which  the 
physique  of  the  gray  walls  and  turrets,  and  of  the  dim 
tarn  into  which  they  all  looked  down,  had  at  length 
brought  about  upon  the  morale  of  his  existence. 

He  admitted,  however,  although  with  hesitation,  that 
much  of  the  peculiar  gloom  which  thus  afflicted  him 
could  be  traced  to  a  more  natural  and  far  more  palp- 
able origin — to  the  severe  and  long-continued  illness — 
indeed  to  the  evidently  approaching  dissolution — of  a 
tenderly  beloved  sister — his  sole  companion  for  long 
years — his  last  and  only  relative  on  earth.  "  Her  de- 
cease," he  said,  with  a  bitterness  which  I  can  never  for- 
get, "  would  leave  him  (him  the  hopeless  and  the  frail) 
the  last  of  the  ancient  race  of  the  Ushers."  While  he 
spoke,  the  lady  Madeline  (for  so  was  she  called)  passed 
slowly  through  a  remote  portion  of  the  apartment,  and, 
without  having  noticed  my  presence,  disappeared.  I 
regarded  her  with  an  utter  astonishment  not  unmingled 
with  dread — and  yet  I  found  it  impossible  to  account 
for  such  feelings.  A  sensation  of  stupor  oppressed  me 
as  my  eyes  followed  her  retreating  steps.  When  a  door 
at  length  closed  upon  her,  my  glance  sought  instinc- 
tively and  eagerly  the  countenance  of  the  brother — 
but  he  had  buried  his  face  in  his  hands,  and  I  could 
only  perceive  that  a  far  more  than  ordinary  wanness 
had  overspread  the  emaciated  fingers  through  which 
trickled  many  passionate  tears. 

The  disease  of  the  lady  Madeline  had  long  baffled 
the  skill  of  her  physicians.  A  settled  apathy,  a  gradual 
wasting  away  of  the  person,  and  frequent  although 

Vol.  I.— 9. 


130       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

transient  affections  of  a  partially  cataleptical  character, 
were  the  unusual  diagnosis.  Hitherto  she  had  steadily 
borne  up  against  the  pressure  of  her  malady,  and  had 
not  betaken  herself  finally  to  bed ;  but,  on  the  closing 
in  of  the  evening  of  my  arrival  at  the  house,  she 
'  succumbed  (as  her  brother  told  me  at  night  with 
inexpressible  agitation)  to  the  prostrating  power  of 
the  destroyer;  and  I  learned  that  the  glimpse  I  had 
obtained  of  her  person  would  thus  probably  be  the  last 
I  should  obtain — that  the  lady,  at  least  while  living, 
would  be  seen  by  me  no  more. 

For  several  days  ensuing  her  name  was  unmentioned 
by  either  Usher  or  myself;  and  during  this  period  I 
was  busied  in  earnest  endeavors  to  alleviate  the 
melancholy  of  my  friend.  We  painted  and  read  to- 
gether, or  I  listened,  as  if  in  a  dream,  to  the  wild  im- 
provisations of  his  speaking  guitar.  And  thus,  as  a 
closer  and  still  closer  intimacy  admitted  me  more 
unreservedly  into  the  recesses  of  his  spirit,  the  more 
bitterly  did  I  perceive  the  futility  of  all  attempts  at 
cheering  a  mind  from  which  darkness,  as  if  an  inherent 
positive  quality,  poured  forth  upon  all  objects  of  the 
moral  and  physical  universe  in  one  unceasing  radiation 
of  gloom. 

I  shall  ever  bear  about  me  a  memory  of  the  many 
solemn  hours  I  thus  spent  alone  with  the  master  of 
the  House  of  Usher.  Yet  I  should  fail  in  any  attempt 
to  convey  an  idea  of  the  exact  character  of  the  studies, 
or  of  the  occupations  in  which  he  involved  me  or  led 
me  the  way.  An  excited  and  highly  distempered  ideality 
threw  a  sulphureous  lustre  over  all.  His  long  impro- 
vised dirges  will  ring  for  ever  in  my  ears.  Among 
other  things,  I  hold  painfully  in  mind  a  certain  singu- 
lar perversion  and  amplification  of  the  wild  air  of  the 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       131 

last  waltz  of  Von  Weber.  From  the  paintings  over 
which  his  elaborate  fancy  brooded,  and  which  grew, 
touch  by  touch,  into  vaguenesses  at  which  I  shuddered 
the  more  thrillingly,  because  I  shuddered  knowing  not 
why; — from  these  paintings  (vivid  as  their  images 
now  are  before  me)  I  would  in  vain  endeavor  to 
educe  more  than  a  small  portion  which  should  lie 
within  the  compass  of  merely  written  words.  By  the 
utter  simplicity,  by  the  nakedness  of  his  designs,  he 
arrested  and  overawed  attention.  If  ever  mortal 
painted  an  idea  that  mortal  was  Koderick  Usher. 
For  me  at  least — in  the  circumstances  then  surrounding 
me — there  arose  out  of  the  pure  abstractions  which 
the  hypochondriac  contrived  to  throw  u^pon  his  canvas 
an  intensity  of  intolerable  awe,  no  shadow  of  which  felt 
I  ever  yet  in  the  contemplation  of  the  certainly  glowing 
yet  too  concrete  reveries  of  Fuseli. 

One  of  the  phantasmagoric  conceptions  of  my  friend, 
partaking  not  so  rigidly  of  the  spirit  of  abstraction, 
may  be  shadowed  forth,  although  feebly,  in  words. 
A  small  picture  presented  the  interior  of  an  immensely 
long  and  rectangular  vault  or  tunnel,  with  low  walls, 
smooth,  white,  and  without  interruption  or  device. 
Certain  accessory  points  of  the  design  served  well  to 
convey  the  idea  that  this  excavation  lay  at  an  exceed- 
ing depth  below  the  surface  of  the  earth.  No  outlet 
was  observed  in  any  portion  of  its  vast  extent,  and  no 
torch  or  other  artificial  source  of  light  was  discernible, 
yet  a  flood  of  intense  rays  rolled  throughout,  and 
bathed  the  whole  in  a  ghastly  and  inappropriate 
splendor. 

I  have  just  spoken  of  that  morbid  condition  of  the 
auditory  nerve  which  rendered  all  music  intolerable  to 
the  sufferer,  with  the  exception  of  certain  effects  of 


132       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

stringed  instruments.  It  was  perhaps  the  narrow  limits 
to  which  he  thus  confined  himself  upon  the  guitar  which 
gave  birth,  in  great  measure,  to  the  fantastic  character 
of  his  performances.  But  the  fervid  facility  of  his 
impromptus  could  not  be  so  accounted  for.  They  must 
have  been  and  were,  in  the  notes,  as  well  as  in  the  words 
of  his  wild  fantasias  (for  he  not  unfrequently  accom- 
panied himself  with  rhymed-verbal  improvisations)  the 
result  of  that  intense  mental  collectedness  and  concen- 
tration to  which  I  have  previously  alluded  as  observable 
only  in  particular  moments  of  the  highest  artificial 
excitement.  The  words  of  one  of  these  rhapsodies  I 
have  easily  remembered.  I  was  perhaps  the  more  forci- 
bly impressed  with  it  as  he  gave  it,  because,  in  the 
under  or  mystic  current  of  its  meaning,  I  fancied  that,  I 
perceived,  and  for  the  first  time,  a  full  consciousness  on 
the  part  of  Usher,  of  the  tottering  of  his  lofty  reason 
upon  her  throne.  The  verses,  which  were  entitled  "  The 
Haunted  Palace,"  ran  very  nearly,  if  not  accurately, 
thus : 

i. 

In  the  greenest  of  our  valleys, 
By  good  angels  tenanted, 

Once  a  fair  and  stately  palace- 
Radiant  palace — reared  its  head. 

In  the  monarch  Thought's  dominion — 
It  stood  there ! 

Never  seraph  spread  a  pinion 
Over  fabric  half  so  fair. 

II. 

Banners  yellow,  glorious,  golden, 

On  its  roof  did  float  and  flow  ; 
(This— all  this— was  in  the  olden 

Time  long  ago) 
And  every  gentle  air  that  dallied, 

In  that  sweet  day, 
Along  the  ramparts  plumed  and  pallid, 

A  winged  odor  went  away. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.        133 

m. 

Wanderers  in  that  happy  valley 

Through  two  luminous  windows  saw 
Spirits  moving  musically 

To  a  lute's  well-tuned  law, 
Round  about  a  throne,  where  sitting 

(Porphyrogeue !) 
In  state  his  glory  well  befitting, 

The  ruler  of  the  realm  was  seen. 

IV. 
And  all  with  pearl  and  ruby  glowing 

Was  the  fair  palace  door, 
Through  which  came  flowing,  flowing,  flowing, 

And  sparkling  evermore, 
A  troop  of  Echoes  whose  sweet  duty 

Was  but  to  sing, 
In  voices  of  surpassing  beauty, 

The  wit  and  wisdom  of  their  king. 

V. 

But  evil  things,  in  robes  of  sorrow, 

Assailed  the  monarch's  high  estate ; 
(Ah,  let  us  mourn,  for  never  morrow 

Shall  dawn  upon  him,  desolate !) 
And,  round  about  his  home,  the  glory 

That  blushed  and  bloomed 
Is  but  a  dim-remembered  story 

Of  the  old  time  entombed. 

VI. 
And  travelers  now  within  that  valley, 

Through  the  red-litten  windows,  see 
Vast  forms  that  move  fantastically 

To  a  discordant  melody ; 
While,  like  a  rapid  ghastly  river 

Through  the  pale  door, 
A  hideous  throng  rush  out  for  ever, 

And  laugh— but  smile  no  more. 

I  well  remember  that  suggestions  arising  from  this 
ballad  led  us  into  a  train  of  thought  wherein  there 
became  manifest  an  opinion  of  Usher,  which  I  mention 
not  so  much  on  account  of  its  novelty  (for  other  men* 
have  thought  thus),  as  on  account  of  the  pertinacity 

*  Watson,  Dr.  Percival,  Spallanzani,  and  especially  the  Bishop  of  Llan- 
daff.— See  "  Chemical  Essays,"  vol.  v. 


134       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

with  which  he  maintained  it.  This  opinion,  in  its 
general  form,  was  that  of  the  sentience  of  all  vegetable 
things.  But,  in  his  disordered  fancy,  the  idea  had 
assumed  a  more  daring  character,  and  trespassed,  under 
certain  conditions,  upon  the  kingdom  of  inorganiza- 
tion.  I  lack  words  to  express  the  full  extent,  or  the 
earnest  abandon  of  his  persuasion.  The  belief,  how- 
ever, was  connected  (as  I  have  previously  hinted)  with 
the  gray  stones  of  the  home  of  his  forefathers.  The 
conditions  of  the  sentience  had  been  here,  he  imagined, 
fulfilled  in  the  method  of  collocation  of  these  stones — 
in  the  order  of  their  arrangement,  as  well  as  in  that 
of  the  many  fungi  which  overspread  them,  and  of  the 
decayed  trees  which  stood  around — above  all,  in  the 
long  undisturbed  endurance  of  this  arrangement,  and 
in  its  reduplication  in  the  still  waters  of  the  tarn.  Its 
evidence — the  evidence  of  the  sentience — was  to  be 
seen,  he  said  (and  I  here  started  as  he  spoke),  in  the 
gradual  yet  certain  condensation  of  an  atmosphere  of 
their  own  about  the  waters  and  the  walls.  The  result 
was  discoverable,  he  added,  in  that  silent  yet  importu- 
nate and  terrible  influence,  which  for  centuries  had 
moulded  the  destinies  of  his  family,  and  which  made 
him  what  I  now  saw  him — what  he  was.  Such  opinions 
need  no  comment,  and  I  will  make  none. 

Our  books — the  books  which  for  years  had  formed 
no  small  portion  of  the  mental  existence  of  the  invalid 
— were,  as  might  be  supposed,  in  strict  keeping  with 
this  character  of  phantasm.  We  pored  together  over 
such  works  as  the  Ververt  et  Chartreuse  of  Gresset ; 
the  Belphegor  of  Machiavelli ;  the  Heaven  and  Hell 
of  Swedenborg ;  the  Subterranean  Voyage  of  Nicholas 
Klimm,  by  Holberg ;  the  Chiromancy  of  Robert  Flud, 
of  Jean  D'lndagine",  and  of  De  la  Chambre;  the 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.        135 

Journey  into  the  Blue  Distance  of  Tieck ;  and  the 
City  of  the  Sun  of  Campanella.  One  favorite  volume 
was  a  small  octavo  edition  of  the  Directorium  Inquisi- 
torium,  by  the  Dominican  Eymeric  de  Gironne;  and 
there  were  passages  in  Pomponius  Mela,  about  the  old 
African  Satyrs  and  (Egipans,  over  which  Usher  would 
sit  dreaming  for  hours.  His  chief  delight,  however, 
was  found  in  the  perusal  of  an  exceedingly  rare  and 
curious  book  in  quarto  Gothic — the  manual  of  a  for- 
gotten church — the  Vigiliae  Mortuorum  secundum  Cho- 
rum Ecclesiae  Maguntinae. 

I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  wild  ritual  of  this 
work,  and  of  its  probable  influence  upon  the  hypochon- 
driac, when,  one  evening  having  informed  me  abruptly 
that  the  lady  Madeline  was  no  more,  he  stated  his 
intention  of  preserving  her  corpse  for  a  fortnight  (pre- 
viously to  its  final  interment),  in  one  of  the  numerous 
vaults  within  the  main  walls  of  the  building.  The 
worldly  reason,  however,  assigned  for  this  singular  pro- 
ceeding was  one  which  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  dis- 
pute. The  brother  had  been  led  to  his  resolution  (so 
he  told  me)  by  consideration  of  the  unusual  character 
of  the  malady  of  the  deceased,  of  certain  obtrusive  and 
eager  inquiries  on  the  part  of  her  medical  man,  and  of 
the  remote  and  exposed  situation  of  the  burial-ground 
of  the  family.  I  will  not  deny  that  when  I  called  to 
mind  the  sinister  countenance  of  the  person  whom  I 
met  upon  the  staircase  on  the  day  of  my  arrival  at  the 
house,  I  had  no  desire  to  oppose  what  I  regarded  as  at 
best  but  a  harmless  and  by  no  means  an  unnatural 
precaution. 

At  the  request  of  Usher,  I  personally  aided  him  in 
the  arrangements  for  the  temporary  entombment.  The 
body  having  been  encoffined,  we  two  alone  bore  it  to 


136        THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

its  rest.  The  vault  in  which  we  placed  it  (and  which 
had  been  so  long  unopened  that  our  torches,  half 
smothered  in  its  oppressive  atmosphere,  gave  us  little 
opportunity  for  investigation)  was  small,  damp,  and 
entirely  without  means  of  admission  for  light,  lying  at 
great  depth  immediately  beneath  that  portion  of  the 
building  in  which  was  my  own  sleeping  apartment. 
It  had  been  used  apparently  in  remote  feudal  times 
for  the  worst  purposes  of  a  donjon-keep,  and  in  later 
days  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  powder  or  some  other 
highly  combustible  substance,  as  a  portion  of  its  floor, 
and  the  whole  interior  of  a  long  archway  through 
which  we  reached  it,  were  carefully  sheathed  with 
copper.  The  door,  of  massive  iron,  had  been  also 
similarly  protected.  Its  immense  weight  caused  an 
unusually  sharp  grating  sound  as  it  moved  upon  its 
hinges. 

Having  deposited  our  mournful  burden  upon  trestles 
within  this  region  of  horror,  we  partially  turned  aside 
the  yet  unscrewed  lid  of  the  coffin  and  looked  upon 
the  face  of  the  tenant.  A  striking  similitude  between 
the  brother  and  sister  now  first  arrested  my  attention, 
and  Usher,  divining  perhaps  my  thoughts,  murmured 
out  some  few  words  from  which  I  learned  that  the 
deceased  and  himself  had  been  twins,  and  that  sym- 
pathies of  a  scarcely  intelligible  nature  had  always 
existed  between  them.  Our  glances,  however,  rested 
not  long  upon  the  dead — for  we  could  not  regard  her 
unawed.  The  disease  which  had  thus  entombed  the 
lady  in  the  maturity  of  youth  had  left,  as  usual  in  all 
maladies  of  a  strictly  cataleptical  character,  the  mockery 
of  a  faint  blush  upon  the  bosom  and  the  face,  and  that 
suspiciously  lingering  smile  upon  the  lip  which  is  so 
terrible  in  death.  We  replaced  and  screwed  down  the 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.        137 

lid,  and  having  secured  the  door  of  iron,  made  our 
way  with  toil  into  the  scarcely  less  gloomy  apartments 
of  the  upper  portion  of  the  house. 

And  now,  some  days  of  bitter  grief  having  elapsed, 
an  observable  change  came  over  the  features  of  the 
mental  disorder  of  my  friend.  His  ordinary  manner 
had  vanished.  His  ordinary  occupations  were  neglected 
or  forgotten.  He  roamed  from  chamber  to  chamber 
with  hurried,  unequal,  and  objectless  step.  The  pallor 
of  his  countenance  had  assumed  if  possible  a  more 
ghastly  hue — but  the  luminousness  of  his  eye  had 
utterly  gone  out.  The  once  occasional  huskiness  of 
his  tone  was  heard  no  more,  and  a  tremulous  quaver, 
as  if  of  extreme  terror,  habitually  characterized  his 
utterance.  There  were  times,  indeed,  when  I  thought 
his  unceasingly  agitated  mind  was  laboring  with  some 
oppressive  secret,  to  divulge  which  he  struggled  for  the 
necessary  courage.  At  times  again  I  was  obliged  to 
resolve  all  into  the  mere  inexplicable  vagaries  of  mad- 
ness, for  I  beheld  him  gazing  upon  vacancy  for  long 
hours  in  an  attitude  of  the  profoundest  attention,  as  if 
listening  to  some  imaginary  sound.  It  was  no  wonder 
that  his  condition  terrified — that  it  infected  me.  I 
felt  creeping  upon  me,  by  slow  yet  certain  degrees,  the 
wild  influences  of  his  own  fantastic  yet  impressive  super- 
stitions. 

It  was  especially  upon  retiring  to  bed  late  at  night 
of  the  seventh  or  eighth  day  after  the  placing  of  the 
lady  Madeline  within  the  donjon  that  I  experienced 
the  full  power  of  such  feelings.  Sleep  came  not  near 
my  couch — while  the  hours  waned  and  waned  away. 
I  struggled  to  reason  off  the  nervousness  which  had 
dominion  over  me.  I  endeavored  to  believe  that  much 
if  not  all  of  what  I  felt  was  due  to  the  bewildering 


138        THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

influence  of  the  gloomy  furniture  of  the  room — of 
the  dark  and  tattered  draperies  which,  tortured  into 
motion  by  the  breath  of  a  rising  tempest,  swayed  fit- 
fully to  and  fro  upon  the  walls,  and  rustled  uneasily 
about  the  decorations  of  the  bed.  But  my  efforts  were 
fruitless.  An  irrepressible  tremor  gradually  pervaded 
my  frame,  and  at  length  there  sat  upon  my  very  heart 
an  incubus  of  utterly  causeless  alarm.  Shaking  this 
off  with  a  gasp  and  a  struggle  I  uplifted  myself  upon 
the  pillows,  and  peering  earnestly  within  the  intense 
darkness  of  the  chamber,  hearkened — I  know  not  why, 
except  that  an  instinctive  spirit  prompted  me — to  cer- 
tain low  and  indefinite  sounds  which  came,  through 
the  pauses  of  the  storm,  at  long  intervals,  I  knew  not 
whence.  Overpowered  by  an  intense  sentiment  of  hor- 
ror, unaccountable  yet  unendurable,  I  threw  on  my 
clothes  with  haste  (for  I  felt  that  I  should  sleep  no 
more  during  the  night),  and  endeavored  to  arouse 
myself  from  the  pitiable  condition  into  which  I  had 
fallen,  by  pacing  rapidly  to  and  fro  through  the 
apartment. 

I  had  taken  but  few  turns  in  this  manner,  when  a 
light  step  on  an  adjoining  staircase  arrested  my  atten- 
tion. I  presently  recognized  it  as  that  of  Usher.  In  an 
instant  afterward  he  rapped  with  a  gentle  touch  at  my 
door,  and  entered,  bearing  a  lamp.  His  countenance 
was  as  usual  cadaverously  wan — but,  moreover,  there 
was  a  species  of  mad  hilarity  in  his  eyes — an  evidently 
restrained  hysteria  in  his  whole  demeanor.  His  air 
appalled  me — but  anything  was  preferable  to  the  soji- 
tude  which  I  had  so  long  endured,  and  I  even  welcomed 
his  presence  as  a  relief. 

"And  you  have  not  seen  it?"  he  said  abruptly, 
after  having  stared  about  him  for  some  moments  in 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.        139 

silence — "  you  have  not  then  seen  it  ? — but,  stay !  you 
shall."  Thus  speaking,  and  having  carefully  shaded 
his  lamp,  he  hurried  to  one  of  the  casements,  and 
threw  it  freely  open  to  the  storm. 

The  impetuous  fury  of  the  entering  gust  nearly  lifted 
us  from  our  feet.  It  was  indeed  a  tempestuous  yet 
sternly  beautiful  night,  and  one  wildly  singular  in  its 
terror  and  its  beauty.  A  whirlwind  had  apparently 
collected  its  force  in  our  vicinity,  for  there  were  fre- 
quent and  violent  alterations  in  the  direction  of  the  wind, 
and  the  exceeding  density  of  the  clouds  (which  hung  so 
low  as  to  press  upon  the  turrets  of  the  house)  did  not 
prevent  our  perceiving  the  life-like  velocity  with  which 
they  flew  careering  from  all  points  against  each  other 
without  passing  away  into  the  distance. 

I  say  that  even  their  exceeding  density  did  not  pre- 
vent our  perceiving  this — yet  we  had  no  glimpse  of 
the  moon  or  stars — nor  was  there  any  flashing  forth  of 
the  lightning.  But  the  under  surfaces  of  the  huge 
masses  of  agitated  vapor,  as  well  as  all  terrestrial 
objects  immediately  around  us,  were  glowing  in  the 
unnatural  light  of  a  faintly  luminous  and  distinctly 
visible  gaseous  exhalation  which  hung  about  and  en- 
shrouded the  mansion. 

"  You  must  not — you  shall  not  behold  this ! "  said  I, 
shudderingly,  to  Usher,  as  I  led  him  with  a  gentle  vio- 
lence from  the  window  to  a  seat.  "  These  appearances 
which  bewilder  you  are  merely  electrical  phenomena  not 
uncommon,  or  it  may  be  that  they  have  their  ghastly 
origin  in  the  rank  miasma  of  the  tarn.  Let  us  close  this 
casement;  the  air  is  chilling  and  dangerous  to  your 
frame.  Here  is  one  of  your  favorite  romances.  I  will 
read,  and  you  shall  listen ;  and  so  we  will  pass  away  this 
terrible  night  together." 


140        THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

The  antique  volume  which  I  had  taken  up  was  the 
"Mad  Trist"  of  Sir  Launcelot  Canning,  but  I  had 
called  it  a  favorite  of  Usher's  more  in  sad  jest  than  in 
earnest ;  for,  in  truth,  there  is  little  in  its  uncouth  and 
unimaginative  prolixity  which  could  have  had  interest 
for  the  lofty  and  spiritual  ideality  of  my  friend.  It 
was,  however,  the  only  book  immediately  at  hand,  and 
I  indulged  a  vague  hope  that  the  excitement  which 
now  agitated  the  hypochondriac  might  find  relief  (for 
the  history  of  mental  disorder  is  full  of  similar  anoma- 
lies) even  in  the  extremeness  of  the  folly  which  I 
should  read.  Could  I  have  judged,  indeed,  by  the  wild 
overstrained  air  of  vivacity  with  which  he  hearkened, 
or  apparently  hearkened,  to  the  words  of  the  tale,  I 
might  well  have  congratulated  myself  upon  the  success 
of  my  design. 

I  had  arrived  at  that  well-known  portion  of  the 
story  where  Ethelred,  the  hero  of  the  Trist,  having  sought 
in  vain  for  peaceable  admission  into  the  dwelling  of  the 
hermit,  proceeds  to  make  good  an  entrance  by  force. 
Here,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  words  of  the  narrative 
run  thus : 

"And  Ethelred,  who  was  by  nature  of  a  doughty 
heart,  and  who  was  now  mighty  withal,  on  account  of  the 
powerfulness  of  the  wine  which  he  had  drunken,  waited 
no  longer  to  hold  parley  with  the  hermit,  who  in  sooth 
was  of  an  obstinate  and  maliceful  turn,  but  feeling  the 
rain  upon  his  shoulders,  and  fearing  the  rising  of  the 
tempest,  uplifted  his  mace  outright,  and  with  blows 
made  quickly  room  in  the  plankings  of  the  door  for  his 
gauntleted  hand :  and  now  pulling  therewith  sturdily, 
he  so  cracked  and  ripped,  and  tore  all  asunder,  that  the 
noise  of  the  dry  and  hollow-sounding  wood  alarmed  and 
reverberated  throughout  the  forest." 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.        141 

At  the  termination  of  this  sentence  I  started,  and  for 
a  moment  paused,  for  it  appeared  to  me  (although  I  at 
once  concluded  that  my  excited  fancy  had  deceived  me) 
that  from  some  very  remote  portion  of  the  mansion  there 
came  indistinctly  to  my  ears  what  might  have  been,  in 
its  exact  similarity  of  character,  the  echo  (but  a  stifled 
and  dull  one  certainly)  of  the  very  cracking  and  ripping 
sound  which  Sir  Launcelot  had  so  particularly  described. 
It  was  beyond  doubt  the  coincidence  alone  which  had 
arrested  my  attention;  for  amid  the  rattling  of  the 
sashes  of  the  casements,  and  the  ordinary  commingled 
noises  of  the  still  increasing  storm,  the  sound  in  itself 
had  nothing  surely  which  should  have  interested  or  dis- 
turbed me.  I  continued  the  story : 

"  But  the  good  champion  Ethelred,  now  entering 
within  the  door,  was  soon  enraged  and  amazed  to  per- 
ceive no  signal  of  the  maliceful  hermit ;  but  in  the  stead 
thereof,  a  dragon  of  a  scaly  and  prodigious  demeanor, 
and  of  a  fiery  tongue,  which  sate  in  guard  before  a 
palace  of  gold,  with  a  floor  of  silver;  and  upon  the 
wall  there  hung  a  shield  of  shining  brass  with  this  legend 
enwritten — 

'  Who  entereth  herein,  a  conqueror  hath  bin ; 
Who  slayeth  the  dragon,  the  shield  he  shall  win.' 

And  Ethelred  uplifted  his  mace,  and  struck  upon  the 
head  of  the  dragon,  which  fell  before  him,  and  gave  up 
his  pesty  breath,  with  a  shriek  so  horrid  and  harsh,  and 
withal  so  piercing,  that  Ethelred  had  fain  to  close  his 
ears  with  his  hands  against  the  dreadful  noise  of  it,  the 
like  whereof  was  never  before  heard." 

Here  again  I  paused  abruptly,  and  now  with  a  feel- 
ing of  wild  amazement — for  there  could  be  no  doubt 
whatever  that  in  this  instance  I  did  actually  hear 
(although  from  what  direction  it  proceeded  I  found  it 


142        THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

impossible  to  say)  a  low  and  apparently  distant,  but 
harsh,  protracted,  and  most  unusual  screaming  or  grat- 
ing sound — the  exact  counterpart  of  what  my  fancy  had 
already  conjured  up  for  the  dragon's  unnatural  shriek  as 
described  by  the  romancer. 

Oppressed,  as  I  certainly  was  upon  the  occurrence  of 
this  second  and  most  extraordinary  coincidence,  by  a 
thousand  conflicting  sensations,  in  which  wonder  and 
extreme  terror  were  predominate,  I  still  retained  suffi- 
cient presence  of  mind  to  avoid  exciting  by  any  obser- 
vation the  sensitive  nervousness  of  my  companion.  I 
was  by  no  means  certain  that  he  had  noticed  the  sounds 
in  question,  although,  assuredly,  a  strange  alteration 
had  during  the  last  few  minutes  taken  place  in  his 
demeanor.  From  a  position  fronting  my  own,  he  had 
gradually  brought  round  his  chair,  so  as  to  sit  with  his 
face  to  the  door  of  the  chamber ;  and  thus  I  could  but 
partially  perceive  his  features,  although  I  saw  that  his 
lips  trembled  as  if  he  were  murmuring  inaudibly.  His 
head  had  dropped  upon  his  breast,  yet  I  knew  that  he 
was  not  asleep,  from  the  wide  and  rigid  opening  of  the 
eye  as  I  caught  a  glance  of  it  in  profile.  The  motion 
of  his  body  too  was  at  variance  with  this  idea, — for  he 
rocked  from  side  to  side  with  a  gentle  yet  constant  and 
uniform  sway.  Having  rapidly  taken  notice  of  all  this, 
I  resumed  the  narrative  of  Sir  Launcelot,  which  thus 
proceeded : 

"And  now,  the  champion  having  escaped  from  the 
terrible  fury  of  the  dragon,  bethinking  himself  of  the 
brazen  shield,  and  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  enchant- 
ment which  was  upon  it,  removed  the  carcass  from  out 
of  the  way  before  him,  and  approached  valorously  over 
the  silver  pavement  of  the  castle  to  where  the  shield 
was  upon  the  wall ;  which  in  sooth  tarried  not  for  his 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       143 

full  coming,  but  fell  down  at  his  feet  upon  the  silver 
floor  with  a  mighty  great  and  terrible  ringing  sound." 

No  sooner  had  these  syllables  passed  my  lips,  than 
— as  if  a  shield  of  brass  had  indeed  at  the  moment 
fallen  heavily  upon  the  floor  of  silver — I  became  aware 
of  a  distinct,  hollow,  metallic,  and  clangorous,  yet 
apparently  muffled,  reverberation.  Completely  un- 
nerved, I  leaped  to  my  feet,  but  the  measured  rocking 
movement  of  Usher  was  undisturbed.  I  rushed  to  the 
chair  in  which  he  sat.  His  eyes  were  bent  fixedly 
before  him,  and  throughout  his  whole  countenance 
there  reigned  a  stony  rigidity.  But,  as  I  placed  my 
hand  upon  his  shoulder,  there  came  a  strong  shudder 
over  his  whole  person ;  a  sickly  smile  quivered  about 
his  lips,  and  I  saw  that  he  spoke  in  a  low,  hurried,  and 
gibbering  murmur,  as  if  unconscious  of  my  presence. 
Bending  closely  over  him,  I  at  length  drank  in  the 
hideous  import  of  his  words. 

"Not  hear  it? — yes,  I  hear  it,  and  have  heard  it. 
Long — long — long — many  minutes,  many  hours,  many 
days,  have  I  heard  it — yet  I  dared  not — oh,  pity  me, 
miserable  wretch  that  I  am ! — I  dared  not — I  dared 
not  speak !  We  have  put  her  living  in  the  tomb ! 
Said  I  not  that  my  senses  were  acute  ?  I  now  tell  you 
that  I  heard  her  first  feeble  movements  in  the  hollow 
coffin.  I  heard  them — many,  many  days  ago — yet  I 
dared  not — I  dared  not  speak  !  And  now — to-night — 
Ethelred — ha  !  ha ! — the  breaking  of  the  hermit's  door, 
and  the  death-cry  of  the  dragon,  and  the  clangor  of 
the  shield  ! — say,  rather,  the  rending  of  her  coffin,  and 
the  grating  of  the  iron  hinges  of  her  prison,  and  her 
struggles  within  the  coppered  archway  of  the  vault. 
Oh  whither  shall  I  fly  ?  Will  she  not  be  here  anon  ? 
Is  she  not  hurrying  to  upbraid  me  for  my  haste  ? 


144       THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER. 

Have  I  not  heard  her  footstep  on  the  stair?  Do  I 
not  distinguish  that  heavy  and  horrible  beating  of  her 
heart  ?  Madman  !  "  Here  he  sprang  furiously  to  his 
feet,  and  shrieked  out  his  syllables,  as  if  in  the  effort 
he  were  giving  up  his  soul — "  Madman  !  I  tell  you 
that  she  now  stands  ivithout  the  door  !  " 

As  if  in  the  superhuman  energy  of  his  utterance 
there  had  been  found  the  potency  of  a  spell — the  huge 
antique  panels  to  which  the  speaker  pointed,  threw 
slowly  back,  upon  the  instant,  their  ponderous  and 
ebony  jaws.  It  was  the  work  of  the  rushing  gust — 
but  then  without  those  doors  there  did  stand  the  lofty 
and  enshrouded  figure  of  the  lady  Madeline  of  Usher. 
There  was  blood  upon  her  white  robes,  and  the  evidence 
of  some  bitter  struggle  upon  every  portion  of  her 
emaciated  frame.  For  a  moment  she  remained  trem- 
bling and  reeling  to  and  fro  upon  the  threshold — 
then,  with  a  low  moaning  cry,  fell  heavily  inward 
upon  the  person  of  her  brother,  and  in  her  violent  and 
now  final  death-agonies,  bore  him  to  the  floor  a  corpse, 
and  a  victim  to  the  terrors  he  had  anticipated. 

From  that  chamber  and  from  that  mansion  I  fled 
aghast.  The  storm  was  still  abroad  in  all  its  wrath 
as  I  found  myself  crossing  the  old  causeway.  Suddenly 
there  shot  along  the  path  a  wild  light,  and  I  turned  to 
see  whence  a  gleam  so  unusual  could  have  issued,  for 
the  vast  house  and  its  shadows  were  alone  behind  me. 
The  radiance  was  that  of  the  full,  setting,  and  blood- 
red  moon,  which  now  shone  vividly  through  that  once 
barely  discernible  fissure,  of  which  I  have  before  spoken 
as  extending  from  the  roof  of  the  building  in  a  zigzag 
direction  to  the  base.  While  I  gazed,  this  fissure 
rapidly  widened  ;  there  came  a  fierce  breath  of  the 
whirlwind ;  the  entire  orb  of  the  satellite  burst  at 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  USHER.       146 

once  upon  my  sight;  my  brain  reeled  as  I  saw  the 
mighty  walls  rushing  asunder ;  there  was  a  long 
tumultuous  shouting  sound  like  the  voice  of  a  thousand 
waters,  and  the  deep  and  dark  tarn  at  my  feet  closed 
sullenly  and  silently  over  the  fragments  of  the  "  House 
of  Usher." 


vol.  L— MX 


THE  PIT  AND  THE   PENDULUM 


THE  PIT  AND  THE    PENDULUM 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

Impia  tortorum,  longas  hie  turba  furores 
Sanguinis  innocui,  non  satiata,  aluit. 
Sospite  nunc  patria,  fracto  nunc  funeris  antro, 
More  ubi  dira  fuit  vita  salusque  patent. 

[Quatrain  composed  for  the  gales  of  a  market  to  be  erected  upon  the  site 
of  the  Jacobin  dub  House  at  Paris.] 

I  was  sick,  sick  unto  death,  with  that  long  agony, 
and  when  they  at  length  unbound  me,  and  I  was  per- 
mitted to  sit,  I  felt  that  my  senses  were  leaving  me. 
The  sentence,  the  dread  sentence  of  death,  was  the 
last  of  distinct  accentuation  which  reached  my  ears. 
After  that,  the  sound  of  the  inquisitorial  voices  seemed 
merged  in  one  dreamy  indeterminate  hum.  It  con- 
veyed to  my  soul  the  idea  of  revolution,  perhaps  from 
its  association  in  fancy  with  the  burr  of  a  mill-wheel. 
This  only  for  a  brief  period,  for  presently  I  heard  no 
more.  Yet,  for  a  while,  I  saw,  but  with  how  terrible 
an  exaggeration !  I  saw  the  lips  of  the  black-robed 
judges.  They  appeared  to  me  white — whiter  than  the 
sheet  upon  which  I  trace  these  words — and  thin  even 
to  grotesqueness ;  thin  with  the  intensity  of  their 
expression  of  firmness,  of  immovable  resolution,  of 
stern  contempt  of  human  torture.  I  saw  that  the 
decrees  of  what  to  me  was  fate  were  still  issuing  from 
those  lips.  I  saw  them  writhe  with  a  deadly  locution. 
I  saw  them  fashion  the  syllables  of  my  name,  and  I 
shuddered,  because  no  sound  succeeded.  I  saw,  too, 
for  a  few  moments  of  delirious  horror,  the  soft  and 
(147) 


148  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

nearly  imperceptible  waving  of  the  sable  draperies  which 
enwrapped  the  walls  of  the  apartment ;  and  then  my 
vision  fell  upon  the  seven  tall  candles  upon  the  table. 
At  first  they  wore  the  aspect  of  charity,  and  seemed 
white  slender  angels  who  would  save  me ;  but  then  all  at 
once  there  came  a  most  deadly  nausea  over  my  spirit, 
and  I  felt  every  fibre  in  my  frame  thrill,  as  if  I  had 
touched  the  wire  of  a  galvanic  battery,  while  the  angel 
forms  became  meaningless  spectres,  with  heads  of  flame, 
and  I  saw  that  from  them  there  would  be  no  help. 
And  then  there  stole  into  my  fancy,  like  a  rich  musical 
note,  the  thought  of  what  sweet  rest  there  must  be  in 
the  grave.  The  thought  came  gently  and  stealthily, 
and  it  seemed  long  before  it  attained  full  appreciation ; 
but  just  as  my  spirit  came  at  length  properly  to  feel 
and  entertain  it,  the  figures  of  the  judges  vanished, 
as  if  magically,  from  before  me ;  the  tall  candles  sank 
into  nothingness;  their  flames  went  out  utterly;  the 
blackness  of  darkness  supervened;  all  sensations  ap- 
peared swallowed  up  in  a  mad  rushing  descent  as  of  the 
soul  into  Hades.  Then  silence,  and  stillness,  and  night 
were  the  universe. 

I  had  swooned ;  but  still  will  not  say  that  all  of  con- 
sciousness was  lost.  What  of  it  there  remained  I  will 
not  attempt  to  define,  or  even  to  describe ;  yet  all  was 
not  lost.  In  the  deepest  slumber — no!  In  delirium 
— no!  In  a  swoon — no!  In  death — no!  Even  in 
the  grave  all  is  not  lost.  Else  there  is  no  immortality 
for  man.  Arousing  from  the  most  profound  of  slum- 
bers, we  break  the  gossamer  web  of  some  dream.  Yet 
in  a  second  afterwards  (so  frail  may  that  web  have 
been)  we  remember  not  that  we  have  dreamed.  In  the 
return  to  life  from  the  swoon  there  are  two  stages; 
first,  that  of  the  sense  of  mental  or  spiritual ;  secondly, 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  149 

that  of  the  sense  of  physical  existence.  It  seems  prob- 
able that  if,  upon  reaching  the  second  stage,  we  could 
recall  the  impressions  of  the  first,  we  should  find  these 
impressions  eloquent  in  memories  of  the  gulf  beyond. 
And  that  gulf  is — what  ?  How  at  least  shall  we  dis- 
tinguish its  shadows  from  those  of  the  tomb  ?  But  if 
the  impressions  of  what  I  have  termed  the  first  stage 
are  not  at  will  recalled,  yet,  after  long  interval,  do  they 
not  come  unbidden,  while  we  marvel  whence  they 
come  ?  He  who  has  never  swooned  is  not  he  who  finds 
strange  palaces  and  wildly  familiar  faces  in  coals  that 
glow ;  is  not  he  who  beholds  floating  in  mid-air  the  sad 
visions  that  the  many  may  not  view;  is  not  he  who 
ponders  over  the  perfume  of  some  novel  flower ;  is  not 
he  whose  brain  grows  bewildered  with  the  meaning  of 
some  musical  cadence  which  has  never  before  arrested 
his  attention. 

Amid  frequent  and  thoughtful  endeavors  to  re- 
member, amid  earnest  struggles  to  regather  some  token 
of  the  state  of  seeming  nothingness  into  which  my 
soul  had  lapsed,  there  have  been  moments  when  I  have 
dreamed  of  success ;  there  have  been  brief,  very  brief 
periods  when  I  have  conjured  up  remembrances  which 
the  lucid  reason  of  a  later  epoch  assures  me  could 
have  had  reference  only  to  that  condition  of  seeming 
unconsciousness.  These  shadows  of  memory  tell  indis- 
tinctly of  tall  figures  that  lifted  and  bore  me  in  silence 
down — down — still  down — till  a  hideous  dizziness  op- 
pressed me  at  the  mere  idea  of  the  interminableness  of 
the  descent.  They  tell  also  of  a  vague  horror  at  my 
heart  on  account  of  that  heart's  unnatural  stillness. 
Then  comes  a  sense  of  sudden  motionlessness  through- 
out all  things;  as  if  those  who  bore  me  (a  ghastly 
train !)  had  outrun,  in  their  descent,  the  limits  of  the 


150  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

limitless,  and  paused  from  the  wearisomeness  of  their 
toil.  After  this  I  call  to  mind  flatness  and  dampness ; 
and  then  all  is  madness — the  madness  of  a  memory 
which  busies  itself  among  forbidden  things. 

Very  suddenly  there  came  back  to  my  soul  motion 
and  sound — the  tumultuous  motion  of  the  heart,  and 
in  my  ears  the  sound  of  its  beating.  Then  a  pause  in 
which  all  is  blank.  Then  again  sound,  and  motion,  and 
touch,  a  tingling  sensation  pervading  my  frame.  Then 
the  mere  consciousness  of  existence,  without  thought — 
a  condition  which  lasted  long.  Then,  very  suddenly, 
thought,  and  shuddering  terror,  and  earnest  endeavor  to 
comprehend  my  true  state.  Then  a  strong  desire  to 
lapse  into  insensibility.  Then  a  rushing  revival  of  soul 
and  a  successful  effort  to  move.  And  now  a  full 
memory  of  the  trial,  of  the  judges,  of  the  sable  dra- 
peries, of  the  sentence,  of  the  sickness,  of  the  swoon. 
Then  entire  forgetfulness  of  all  that  followed ;  of  all 
that  a  later  day  and  much  earnestness  of  endeavor  have 
enabled  me  vaguely  to  recall. 

So  far  I  had  not  opened  my  eyes.  I  felt  that  I  lay 
upon  my  back  unbound.  I  reached  out  my  hand,  and 
it  fell  heavily  upon  something  damp  and  hard.  There 
I  suffered  it  to  remain  for  many  minutes,  while  I  strove 
to  imagine  where  and  what  I  could  be.  I  longed,  yet 
dared  not,  to  employ  my  vision.  I  dreaded  the  first 
glance  at  objects  around  me.  It  was  not  that  I  feared 
to  look  upon  things  horrible,  but  that  I  grew  aghast 
lest  there  should  be  nothing  to  see.  At  length,  with  a 
wild  desperation  at  heart,  I  quickly  unclosed  my  eyes. 
My  worst  thoughts,  then,  were  confirmed.  The  black- 
ness of  eternal  night  encompassed  me.  I  struggled  for 
breath.  The  intensity  of  the  darkness  seemed  to  op- 
press and  stifle  me.  The  atmosphere  was  intolerably 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  151 

close.  I  still  lay  quietly,  and  made  effort  to  exercise 
my  reason.  I  brought  to  mind  the  inquisitorial  pro- 
ceedings, and  attempted  from  that  point  to  deduce  my 
real  condition.  The  sentence  had  passed,  and  it  ap- 
peared to  me  that  a  very  long  interval  of  time  had  since 
elapsed.  Yet  not  for  a  moment  did  I  suppose  myself 
actually  dead.  Such  a  supposition,  notwithstanding 
what  we  read  in  fiction,  is  altogether/ inconsistent  with 
real  existence ; — but  where  and  in  what  state  was  I  ? 
The  condemned  to  death,  I  knew,  perished  usually  at 
the  autos-da-fe,  and  one  of  these  had  been  held  on  the 
very  night  of  the  day  of  my  trial.  Had  I  been  re- 
manded to  my  dungeon,  to  await  the  next  sacrifice, 
which  would  not  take  place  for  many  months  ?  This  I 
at  once  saw  could  not  be.  Victims  had  been  in  imme- 
diate demand.  Moreover  my  dungeon,  as  well  as  all 
the  condemned  cells  at  Toledo,  had  stone  floors,  and  light 
was  not  altogether  excluded. 

A  fearful  idea  now  suddenly  drove  the  blood  in 
torrents  upon  my  heart,  and  for  a  brief  period  I  once 
more  relapsed  into  insensibility.  Upon  recovering,  I 
at  once  started  to  my  feet,  trembling  convulsively  in 
every  fibre.  I  thrust  my  arms  wildly  above  and  around 
me  in  all  directions.  I  felt  nothing;  yet  dreaded  to 
move  a  step,  lest  I  should  be  impeded  by  the  walls  of  a 
tomb.  Perspiration  burst  from  every  pore,  and  stood  in 
cold  big  beads  upon  my  forehead.  The  agony  of  sus- 
pense grew  at  length  intolerable,  and  I  cautiously  moved 
forward,  with  my  arms  extended,  and  my  eyes  straining 
from  their  sockets,  in  the  hope  of  catching  some  faint 
ray  of  light.  I  proceeded  for  many  paces,  but  still  all 
was  blackness  and  vacancy.  I  breathed  more  freely. 
It  seemed  evident  that  mine  was  not,  at  least,  the  most 
hideous  of  fates. 


152  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

And  now,  as  I  still  continued  to  step  cautiously  on- 
ward, there  came  thronging  upon  my  recollection  a 
thousand  vague  rumors  of  the  horrors  of  Toledo.  Of 
the  dungeons  there  had  been  strange  things  narrated — 
fables  I  had  always  deemed  them — but  yet  strange,  and 
too  ghastly  to  repeat,  save  in  a  whisper.  Was  I  left  to 
perish  of  starvation  in  this  subterranean  world  of  dark- 
ness; or  what  fate  perhaps  even  more  fearful  awaited 
me?  That  the  result  would  be  death,  and  a  death  of 
more  than  customary  bitterness,  I  knew  too  well  the 
character  of  my  judges  to  doubt.  The  mode  and  the 
hour  were  all  that  occupied  or  distracted  me. 

My  outstretched  hands  at  length  encountered  some 
solid  obstruction.  It  was  a  wall,  seemingly  of  stone 
masonry — very  smooth,  slimy,  and  cold.  I  followed 
it  up ;  stepping  with  all  the  careful  distrust  with  which 
certain  antique  narratives  had  inspired  me.  This  pro- 
cess, however,  afforded  me  no  means  of  ascertaining  the 
dimensions  of  my  dungeon ;  as  I  might  make  its  circuit, 
and  return  to  the  point  whence  I  set  out,  without  being 
aware  of  the  fact,  so  perfectly  uniform  seemed  the  wall. 
I  therefore  sought  the  knife  which  had  been  in  my 
pocket  when  led  into  the  inquisitorial  chamber,  but  it 
was  gone ;  my  clothes  had  been  exchanged  for  a  wrapper 
of  coarse  serge.  I  had  thought  of  forcing  the  blade 
in  some  minute  crevice  of  the  masonry,  so  as  to 
identify  my  point  of  departure.  The  difficulty,  never- 
theless, was  but  trivial,  although,  in  the  disorder  of  my 
fancy,  it  seemed  at  first  insuperable.  I  tore  a  part  of 
the  hem  from  the  robe,  and  placed  the  fragment  at 
full  length,  and  at  right  angles  to  the  wall.  In 
groping  my  way  around  the  prison,  I  could  not  fail 
to  encounter  this  rag  upon  completing  the  circuit.  So, 
at  least,  I  thought,  but  I  had  not  counted  upon  the 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  153 

extent  of  the  dungeon  or  upon  my  own  weakness.  The 
ground  was  moist  and  slippery.  I  staggered  onward  for 
some  time,  when  I  stumbled  and  fell.  My  excessive 
fatigue  induced  me  to  remain  prostrate,  and  sleep  soon 
overtook  me  as  I  lay. 

Upon  awaking,  and  stretching  forth  an  arm,  I 
found  beside  me  a  loaf  and  a  pitcher  with  water.  I 
was  too  much  exhausted  to  reflect  tjpon  this  circum- 
stance, but  ate  and  drank  with  avidity.  Shortly  after- 
wards I  resumed  my  tour  around  the  prison,  and  with 
much  toil  came  at  last  upon  the  fragment  of  the  serge. 
Up  to  the  period  when  I  fell  I  had  counted  fifty-two 
paces,  and  upon  resuming  my  walk  I  had  counted 
forty-eight  more,  when  I  arrived  at  the  rag.  There 
were  in  all,  then,  a  hundred  paces ;  and,  admitting  two 
paces  to  the  yard,  I  presumed  the  dungeon  to  be  fifty 
yards  in  circuit.  I  had  met,  however,  with  many  angles 
in  the  wall,  and  thus  I  could  form  no  guess  at  the  shape 
of  the  vault,  for  vault  I  could  not  help  supposing  it 
to  be. 

I  had  little  object — certainly  no  hope — in  these  re- 
searches, but  a.vague  curiosity  prompted  me  to  continue 
them.  Quitting  the  wall,  I  resolved  to  cross  the  area 
of  the  enclosure.  At  first  I  proceeded  with  extreme 
caution,  for  the  floor,  although  seemingly  of  solid 
material,  was  treacherous  with  slime.  At  length,  how- 
ever, I  took  courage  and  did  not  hesitate  to  step  firmly 
— endeavoring  to  cross  in  as  direct  a  line  as  possible.  I 
had  advanced  some  ten  or  twelve  paces  in  this  manner, 
when  the  remnant  of  the  torn  hem  of  my  robe  became 
entangled  between  my  legs.  I  stepped  on  it,  and  fell 
violently  on  my  face. 

In  the  confusion  attending  my  fall,  I  did  not  immedi- 
ately apprehend  a  somewhat  startling  circumstance, 


154  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

which  yet,  in  a  few  seconds  afterward,  and  while  I 
still  lay  prostrate,  arrested  my  attention.  It  was  this : 
my  chin  rested  upon  the  floor  of  the  prison,  but  my 
lips,  and  the  upper  portion  of  my  head,  although  seem- 
ingly at  a  less  elevation  than  the  chin,  touched  nothing. 
At  the  same  time  my  forehead  seemed  bathed  in  a 
clammy  vapor,  and  the  peculiar  smell  .of  decayed 
fungus  arose  to  my  nostrils.  I  put  forward  my  arm, 
and  shuddered  to  find  that  I  had  fallen  at  the  very 
brink  of  a  circular  pit,  whose  extent  of  course  I  had 
no  means  of  ascertaining  at  the  moment.  Groping 
about  the  masonry  just  below  the  margin,  I  succeeded 
in  dislodging  a  small  fragment,  and  let  it  fall  into  the 
abyss.  For  many  seconds  I  hearkened  to  its  reverbera- 
tions as  it  dashed  against  the  sides  of  the  chasm  in  its 
descent ;  at  length  there  was  a  sullen  plunge  into  water, 
succeeded  by  loud  echoes.  At  the  same  moment  there 
came  a  sound  resembling  the  quick  opening,  and  as 
rapid  closing  of  a  door  overhead,  while  a  faint  gleam  of 
light  flashed  suddenly  through  the  gloom,  and  as  sud- 
denly faded  away. 

I  saw  clearly  the  doom  which  had  been  prepared  for 
me,  and  congratulated  myself  upon  the  timely  accident 
by  which  I  had  escaped.  Another  step  before  my  fall, 
and  the  world  had  seen  me  no  more ;  and  the  death  just 
avoided  was  of  that  very  character  which  I  had  regarded 
as  fabulous  and  frivolous  in  the  tales  respecting  the  In- 
quisition. To  the  victims  of  its  tyranny,  there  was  the 
choice  of  death  with  its  direst  physical  agonies,  or  death 
with  its  most  hideous  moral  horrors.  I  had  been  re- 
served for  the  latter.  By  long  suffering  my  nerves  had 
been  unstrung,  until  I  trembled  at  the  sound  of  my  own 
voice,  and  had  become  in  every  respect  a  fitting  subject 
for  the  species  of  torture  which  awaited  me. 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  155 

Shaking  in  every  limb,  I  groped  my  way  back  to  the 
wall — resolving  there  to  perish  rather  than  risk  the 
terrors  of  the  wells,  of  which  my  imagination  now 
pictured  many  in  various  positions  about  the  dungeon. 
In  other  conditions  of  mind  I  might  have  had  courage 
to  end  my  misery  at  once  by  a  plunge  into  one  of  these 
abysses ;  but  now  I  was  the  veriest  of  cowards.  Neither 
could  I  forget  what  I  had  read  of  these  pits — that  the 
sudden  extinction  of  life  formed  no  part  of  their  most 
horrible  plan. 

Agitation  of  spirit  kept  me  awake  for  many  long  hours ; 
but  at  length  I  again  slumbered.  Upon  arousing,  I 
found  by  my  side,  as  before,  a  loaf  and  a  pitcher  of 
water.  A  burning  thirst  consumed  me,  and  I  emptied 
the  vessel  at  a  draught.  It  must  have  been  drugged,  for 
scarcely  had  I  drank  before  I  became  irresistibly  drowsy. 
A  deep  sleep  fell  upon  me — a  sleep  like  that  of  death. 
How  long  it  lasted  of  course  I  know  not ;  but  when  once 
again  I  unclosed  my  eyes  the  objects  around  me  were 
visible.  By  a  wild  sulphurous  lustre,  the  origin  of  which 
I  could  not  at  first  determine,  I  was  enabled  to  see  the 
extent  and  aspect  of  the  prison. 

In  its  size  I  had  been  greatly  mistaken.  The  whole 
circuit  of  its  wall  did  not  exceed  twenty-five  yards. 
For  some  minutes  this  fact  occasioned  me  a  world  of 
vain  trouble ;  vain  indeed — for  what  could  be  of  less 
importance,  under  the  terrible  circumstances  which  en- 
vironed me,  than  the  mere  dimensions  of  my  dungeon  ? 
But  my  soul  took  a  wild  interest  in  trifles,  and  I  busied 
myself  in  endeavors  to  account  for  the  error  I  had 
committed  in  my  measurement.  The  truth  at  length 
flashed  upon  me.  In  my  first  attempt  at  exploration  I 
had  counted  fifty-two  paces  up  to  the  period  when  I 
fell ;  I  must  then  have  been  within  a  pace  or  two  of  the 


156  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

fragment  of  serge ;  in  fact  I  had  nearly  performed  the 
circuit  of  the  vault.  I  then  slept,  and  upon  awaking, 
I  must  have  returned  upon  my  steps,  thus  supposing 
the  circuit  nearly  double  what  it  actually  was.  My 
confusion  of  mind  prevented  me  from  observing  that  I 
began  my  tour  with  the  wall  to  the  left,  and  ended  it 
with  the  wall  to  the  right. 

I  had  been  deceived  too  in  respect  to  the  shape  of 
the  enclosure.  In  feeling  my  way  I  had  found  many 
angles,  and  thus  deduced  an  idea  of  great  irregularity, 
so  potent  is  the  effect  of  total  darkness  upon  one  arous- 
ing from  lethargy  or  sleep !  The  angles  were  simply 
those  of  a  few  slight  depressions  or  niches  at  odd  inter- 
vals. The  general  shape  of  the  prison  was  square. 
What  I  had  taken  for  masonry  seemed  now  to  be  iron, 
or  some  other  metal,  in  huge  plates,  whose  sutures  or 
joints  occasioned  the  depression.  The  entire  surface 
of  this  metallic  enclosure  was  rudely  daubed  in  all  the 
hideous  and  repulsive  devices  to  which  the  charnel 
superstition  of  the  monks  has  given  rise.  The  figures 
of  fiends  in  aspects  of  menace,  with  skeleton  forms  and 
other  more  really  fearful  images,  overspread  and  dis- 
figured the  walls.  I  observed  that  the  outlines  of  these 
monstrosities  were  sufficiently  distinct,  but  that  the 
Colors  seemed  faded  and  blurred,  as  if  from  the  effects 
of  a  damp  atmosphere.  I  now  noticed  the  floor,  too, 
which  was  of  stone.  In  the  centre  yawned  the  circular 
pit  from  whose  jaws  I  had  escaped  ;  but  it  was  the  only 
one  in  the  dungeon. 

All  this  I  saw  indistinctly  and  by  much  effort,  for 
my  personal  condition  had  been  greatly  changed  during 
slumber.  I  now  lay  upon  my  back,  and  at  full  length, 
on  a  species  of  low  framework  of  wood.  To  this  I  was 
securely  bound  by  a  long  strap  resembling  a  surcingle. 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  157 

It  passed  in  many  convolutions  about  my  limbs  and 
body,  leaving  at  liberty  only  my  head,  and  my  left  arm 
to  such  an  extent  that  I  could  by  dint  of  much  exer- 
tion supply  myself  with  food  from  an  earthen  dish 
which  lay  by  my  side  on  the  floor.  I  saw  to  my  horror 
that  the  pitcher  had  been  removed.  I  say  to  my  horror, 
for  I  was  consumed  with  intolerable  thirst.  This  thirst  it 
appeared  to  be  the  design  of  my  persecutors  to  stimulate, 
for  the  food  in  the  dish  was  meat  pungently  seasoned. 

Looking  upward,  I  surveyed  the  ceiling  of  my  prison. 
It  was  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  overhead,  and  con- 
structed much  as  the  side  walls.  In  one  of  its  panels  a 
very  singular  figure  riveted  my  whole  attention.  It 
was  the  painted  figure  of  Time  as  he  is  commonly 
represented,  save  that  in  lieu  of  the  scythe  he  held  what 
at  a  casual  glance  I  supposed  to  be  the  pictured  image 
of  a  huge  pendulum,  such  as  we  see  on  antique  clocks. 
There  was  something,  however,  in  the  appearance  of 
this  machine  which  caused  me  to  regard  it  more  atten- 
tively. While  I  gazed  directly  upward  at  it  (for  its 
position  was  immediately  over  my  own),  I  fancied  that 
I  saw  it  in  motion.  In  an  instant  afterward  the  fancy 
was  confirmed.  Its  sweep  was  brief,  and  of  course  slow. 
I  watched  it  for  some  minutes  somewhat  in  fear  but 
more  in  wonder.  Wearied  at  length  with  observing  its 
dull  movement,  I  turned  my  eyes  upon  the  other  objects 
in  the  cell. 

A  slight  noise  attracted  my  notice,  and  looking  to 
the  floor,  I  saw  several  enormous  rats  traversing  it. 
They  had  issued  from  the  well  which  lay  just  within 
view  to  my  right.  Even  then  while  I  gazed  they  came 
up  in  troops,  hurriedly,  with  ravenous  eyes,  allured  by 
the  scent  of  the  meat.  From  this  it  required  much 
effort  and  attention  to  scare  them  away. 


158  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

It  might  have  been  half  an  hour,  perhaps  even  an 
hour  (for  I  could  take  but  imperfect  note  of  time),  before 
I  again  cast  my  eyes  upward.  What  I  then  saw  con- 
founded and  amazed  me.  The  sweep  of  the  pendulum 
had  increased  in  extent  by  nearly  a  yard.  As  a  natu- 
ral consequence,  its  velocity  was  also  much  greater. 
But  what  mainly  disturbed  me  was  the  idea  that  it  had 
perceptively  descended.  I  now  observed,  with  what 
horror  it  is  needless  to  say,  that  its  nether  extremity 
was  formed  of  a  crescent  of  glittering  steel,  about  a  foot 
in  length  from  horn  to  horn ;  the  horns  upward,  and  the 
under  edge  evidently  as  keen  as  that  of  a  razor.  Like 
a  razor  also  it  seemed  massy  and  heavy,  tapering  from 
the  edge  into  a  solid  and  broad  structure  above.  It  was 
appended  to  a  weighty  rod  of  brass,  and  the  whole 
hissed  as  it  swung  through  the  air. 

I  could  no  longer  doubt  the  doom  prepared  for  me 
by  monkish  ingenuity  in  torture.  My  cognizance  of 
the  pit  had  become  known  to  the  inquisitorial  agents — 
t lie  pit,  whose  horrors  had  been  destined  for  so  bold  a 
recusant  as  myself,  the  pit,  typical  of  hell,  and  regarded 
by  rumor  as  the  Ultima  Thule  of  all  their  punish- 
ments. The  plunge  into  this  pit  I  had  avoided  by  the 
merest  accidents,  and  I  knew  that  surprise  or  entrap- 
ment into  torment  formed  an  important  portion  of  all 
the  grotesquerie  of  these  dungeon  deaths.  Having 
failed  to  fall,  it  was  no  part  of  the  demon  plan  to  hurl 
me  into  the  abyss,  and  thus  (there  being  no  alternative) 
a  different  and  a  milder  destruction  awaited  me. 
Milder !  I  half  smiled  in  my  agony  as  I  thought  of 
such  application  of  such  a  term. 

What  boots  it  to  tell  of  the  long,  long  hours  of 
horror  more  than  mortal,  during  which  I  counted  the 
rushing  oscillations  of  the  steel !  Inch  by  inch — line 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  159 

by  line — with  a  descent  only  appreciable  at  intervals 
that  seemed  ages — down  and  still  down  it  came !  Days 
passed — it  might  have  been  that  many  days  passed — 
ere  it  swept  so  closely  over  me  as  to  fan  me  with  its 
acrid  breath.  The  odor  of  the  sharp  steel  forced  itself 
into  my  nostrils.  I  prayed — I  wearied  heaven  with  my 
prayer  for  its  more  speedy  descent.  I  grew  frantically 
mad,  and  struggled  to  force  myself  upward  against  the 
sweep  of  the  fearful  scimitar.  And  then  I  fell  suddenly 
calm  and  lay  smiling  at  the  glittering  death  as  a  child 
at  some  rare  bauble. 

There  was  another  interval  of  utter  insensibility; 
it  was  brief,  for  upon  again  lapsing  into  life  there  had 
been  no  perceptible  descent  in  the  pendulum.  But  it 
might  have  been  long — for,  I  knew  there  were  demons 
who  took  note  of  my  swoon,  and  who  could  have 
arrested  the  vibration  at  pleasure.  Upon  my  recovery, 
too,  I  felt  very — oh !  inexpressibly — sick  and  weak,  as 
if  through  long  inanition.  Even  amid  the  agonies  of 
that  period  the  human  nature  craved  food.  "With  pain- 
ful effort  I  outstretched  my  left  arm  as  far  as  my  bonds 
permitted,  and  took  possession  of  the  small  remnant 
which  had  been  spared  me  by  the  rats.  As  I  put  a 
portion  of  it  within  my  lips  there  rushed  to  my  mind  a 
half-formed  thought  of  joy — of  hope.  Yet  what  busi- 
ness had  I  with  hope  ?  It  was,  as  I  say,  a  half-formed 
thought — man  has  many  such,  which  are  never  com- 
pleted. I  felt  that  it  was  of  joy — of  hope ;  but  I  felt 
also  that  it  had  perished  in  its  formation.  In  vain  I 
struggled  to  perfect — to  regain  it.  Long  suffering  had 
nearly  annihilated  all  my  ordinary  powers  of  mind.  I 
was  an  imbecile — an  idiot. 

The  vibration  of  the  pendulum  was  at  right  angles 
to  my  length.  I  saw  that  the  crescent  was  designed 


160  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

to  cross  the  region  of  the  heart.  It  would  fray  the  serge 
of  my  robe ;  it  would  return  and  repeat  its  operations 
— again — and  again.  Notwithstanding  its  terrifically 
wide  sweep  (some  thirty  feet  or  more)  and  the  hissing 
vigor  of  its  descent,  sufficient  to  sunder  these  very  walls 
of  iron,  still  the  fraying  of  my  robe  would  be  all  that, 
for  several  minutes,  it  would  accomplish  ;  and  at  this 
thought  I  paused.  I  dared  not  go  farther  than  this 
reflection.  I  dwelt  upon  it  with  a  pertinacity  of  atten- 
tion— as  if,  in  so  dwelling,  I  could  arrest  here  the  de- 
scent of  the  steel.  I  forced  myself  to  ponder  upon  the 
sound  of  the  crescent  as  it  should  pass  across  the  garment 
upon  the  peculiar  thrilling  sensation  which  the  friction 
of  cloth  produces  on  the  nerves.  I  pondered  upon  all 
this  frivolity  until  my  teeth  were  on  edge. 

Down — steadily  down  it  crept.  I  took  a  frenzied 
pleasure  in  contrasting  its  downward  with  its  lateral 
velocity.  To  the  right — to  the  left — far  and  wide — with 
the  shriek  of  a  damned  spirit !  to  my  heart  with  the 
stealthy  pace  of  the  tiger !  I  alternately  laughed  and 
howled,  as  the  one  or  the  other  idea  grew  predom- 
inant. 

Down — certainly,  relentlessly  down !  It  vibrated 
within  three  inches  of  my  bosom !  I  struggled  violently 
— furiously — to  free  my  left  arm.  This  was  free  only 
from  the  elbow  to  the  hand.  I  could  reach  the  latter, 
from  the  platter  beside  me  to  my  mouth  with  great 
effort,  but  no  farther.  Could  I  have  broken  the  fasten- 
ings above  the  elbow,  I  would  have  seized  and  attempted 
to  arrest  the  pendulum.  I  might  as  well  have  attempted 
to  arrest  an  avalanche ! 

Down — still  unceasingly — still  inevitably  down  !  I 
gasped  and  struggled  at  each  vibration.  I  shrunk 
convulsively  at  its  every  sweep.  My  eyes  followed  its 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  161 

outward  or  upward  whirls  with  the  eagerness  of  the 
most  unmeaning  despair ;  they  closed  themselves  spas- 
modically at  the  descent,  although  death  would  have 
been  a  relief,  oh,  how  unspeakable !  Still  I  quivered 
in  every  nerve  to  think  how  slight  a  sinking  of  the 
machinery  would  precipitate  that  keen  glistening  axe 
upon  my  bosom.  It  was  hope  that  prompted  the 
nerve  to  quiver — the  frame  to  shrink.  It  was  hope — 
the  hope  that  triumphs  on  the  rack — that  whispers  to 
the  death-condemned  even  in  the  dungeons  of  the 
Inquisition. 

I  saw  that  some  ten  or  twelve  vibrations  would  bring 
the  steel  in  actual  contact  with  my  robe,  and  with  this 
observation  there  suddenly  came  over  my  spirit  all  the 
keen,  collected  calmness  of  despair.  For  the  first  time 
during  many  hours,  or  perhaps  days,  I  thought.  It  now 
occurred  to  me  that  the  bandage  or  surcingle  which 
enveloped  me  was  unique.  I  was  tied  by  no  separate 
cord.  The  first  stroke  of  the  razor-like  crescent  athwart 
any  portion  of  the  band  would  so  detach  it  that  it  might 
be  unwound  from  my  person  by  means  of  my  left 
hand.  But  how  fearful,  in  that  case,  the  proximity  of 
the  steel  1  The  result  of  the  slightest  struggle,  how 
deadly!  Was  it  likely,  moreover,  that  the  minions 
of  the  torturer  had  not  foreseen  and  provided  for  this 
possibility  ?  Was  it  probable  that  the  bandage  crossed 
my  bosom  in  the  track  of  the  pendulum?  Dreading 
to  find  my  faint,  and,  as  it  seemed,  my  last  hope  frus- 
trated, I  so  far  elevated  my  head  as  to  obtain  a  distinct 
view  of  my  breast.  The  surcingle  enveloped  my  limbs 
and  body  close  in  all  directions  save  in  the  path  of  the 
destroying  crescent. 

Scarcely  had  I  dropped  my  head  back  into  its  origi- 
nal position  when  there  flashed  upon  my  mind  what  I 
Vol.  L-ii. 


162  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

cannot  better  describe  than  as  the  unformed  half  of 
that  idea  of  deliverance  to  which  I  have  previously 
alluded,  and  of  which  a  moiety  only  floated  indeter- 
minately through  my  brain  when  I  raised  food  to  my 
burning  lips.  The  whole  thought  was  now  present — 
feeble,  scarcely  sane,  scarcely  definite,  but  still  entire. 
I  proceeded  at  once,  with  the  nervous  energy  of  despair, 
to  attempt  its  execution. 

For  many  hours  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  low 
framework  upon  which  I  lay  had  been  literally  swarm- 
ing with  rats.  They  were  wild,  bold,  ravenous,  their 
red  eyes  glaring  upon  me  as  if  they  waited  but  for 
motionlessness  on  my  part  to  make  me  their  prey.  "  To 
what  food,"  I  thought,  "  have  they  been  accustomed  in 
the  well?" 

They  had  devoured,  in  spite  of  all  my  efforts  to  pre- 
vent them,  all  but  a  small  remnant  of  the  contents  of 
the  dish.  I  had  fallen  into  an  habitual  see-saw  or 
wave  of  the  hand  about  the  platter ;  and  at  length  the 
unconscious  uniformity  of  the  movement  deprived  it  of 
effect.  In  their  voracity  the  vermin  frequently  fastened 
their  sharp  fangs  in  my  fingers.  With  the  particles 
of  the  oily  and  spicy  viand  which  now  remained,  I 
thoroughly  rubbed  the  bandage  wherever  I  could  reach 
it ;  then  raising  my  hand  from  the  floor,  I  lay  breath- 
lessly still. 

At  first  the  ravenous  animals  were  startled  and  terri- 
fied at  the  change — at  the  cessation  of  movement. 
They  shrank  alarmedly  back ;  many  sought  the  well. 
But  this  was  only  for  a  moment.  I  had  not  counted 
in  vain  upon  their  voracity.  Observing  that  I  re- 
mained without  motion,  one  or  two  of  the  boldest 
leaped  upon  the  framework  and  smelt  at  the  surcingle. 
This  seemed  the  signal  for  a  general  rush.  Forth 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PEND  UL  UM.  163 

from  the  well  they  hurried  in  fresh  troops.  They  clung 
to  the  wood,  they  overran  it,  and  leaped  in  hundreds 
upon  my  person.  The  measured  movement  of  the 
pendulum  disturbed  them  not  at  all.  Avoiding  its 
strokes,  they  busied  themselves  with  the  anointed  ban- 
dage. They  pressed,  they  swarmed  upon  me  in  ever 
accumulating  heaps.  They  writhed  upon  my  throat; 
their  cold  lips  sought  my  own ;  I  was  half  stifled  by 
their  thronging  pressure ;  disgust,  for  which  the  world 
has  no  name,  swelled  my  bosom,  and  chilled  with  heavy 
clamminess  my  heart.  Yet  one  minute  and  I  felt  that 
the  struggle  would  be  over.  Plainly  I  perceived  the 
loosening  of  the  bandage.  I  knew  that  in  more  than 
one  place  it  must  be  already  severed.  With  a  more 
than  human  resolution  I  lay  still. 

Nor  had  I  erred  in  my  calculations,  nor  had  I  en- 
dured in  vain.  I  at  length  felt  that  I  was  free.  The 
surcingle  hung  in  ribbons  from  my  body.  But  the 
stroke  of  the  pendulum  already  pressed  upon  my 
bosom.  It  had  divided  the  serge  of  the  robe.  It  had 
cut  through  the  linen  beneath.  Twice  again  it  swung, 
and  a  sharp  sense  of  pain  shot  through  every  nerve. 
But  the  moment  of  escape  had  arrived.  At  a  wave  of 
my  hand  my  deliverers  hurried  tumultuously  away. 
With  a  steady  movement,  cautious,  sidelong,  shrinking, 
and  slow,  I  slid  from  the  embrace  of  the  bandage  and 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  scimitar.  For  the  moment,  at 
least,  I  was  free. 

Free ! — and  in  the  grasp  of  the  Inquisition  I  I  had 
scarcely  stepped  from  my  wooden  bed  of  horror  upon 
the  stone  floor  of  the  prison,  when  the  motion  of  the 
hellish  machine  ceased,  and  I  beheld  it  drawn  up  by 
some  invisible  force  through  the  ceiling.  This  was  a 
lesson  which  I  took  desperately  to  heart.  My  every 


164  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

motion  was  undoubtedly  watched.  Free ! — I  had  but 
escaped  death  in  one  form  of  agony  to  be  delivered 
unto  worse  than  death  in  some  other.  With  that 
thought  I  rolled  my  eyes  nervously  around  on  the 
barriers  of  iron  that  hemmed  me  in.  Something  un- 
usual— some  change  which  at  first  I  could  not  appre- 
ciate distinctly — it  was  obvious  had  taken  place  in  the 
apartment.  For  many  minutes  of  a  dreamy  and 
trembling  abstraction  I  busied  myself  in  vain,  uncon- 
nected conjecture.  During  this  period  I  became  aware, 
for  the  first  time,  of  the  origin  of  the  sulphurous  light 
which  illumined  the  cell.  It  proceeded  from  a  fissure 
about  half-an-inch  in  width,  extending  entirely  around 
the  prison  at  the  base  of  the  walls  which  thus  appeared, 
and  were  completely  separated  from  the  floor.  I  en- 
deavored, but  of  course  in  vain,  to  look  through  the 
aperture. 

As  I  arose  from  the  attempt  the  mystery  of  the 
alteration  in  the  chamber  broke  at  once  upon  my 
understanding.  I  have  observed  that  although  the 
outlines  of  the  figures  upon  the  walls  were  sufficiently 
distinct,  yet  the  colors  seemed  blurred  and  indefinite. 
These  colors  had  now  assumed,  and  were  momentarily 
assuming,  a  startling  and  most  intense  brilliancy,  that 
gave  to  the  spectral  and  fiendish  portraitures  an  aspect 
that  might  have  thrilled  even  firmer  nerves  than  my 
own.  Demon  eyes,  of  a  wild  and  ghastly  vivacity, 
glared  upon  me  in  a  thousand  directions  where  none  had 
been  visible  before,  and  gleamed  with  the  lurid  lustre 
of  a  fire  that  I  could  not  force  my  imagination  to  regard 
as  unreal. 

Unreal! — Even  while  I  breathed  there  came  to  my 
nostrils  the  breath  of  the  vapor  of  heated  iron !  A 
suffocating  odor  pervaded  the  prison !  A  deeper  glow 


THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM.  165 

settled  each  moment  in  the  eyes  that  glared  at  my 
agonies !  A  richer  tint  of  crimson  diffused  itself  over 
the  pictured  horrors  of  blood.  I  panted !  I  gasped  for 
breath !  There  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  design  of  my 
tormentors — oh,  most  unrelenting ! — oh,  most  demoniac 
of  men !  I  shrank  from  the  glowing  metal  to  the  centre 
of  the  cell.  Amid  the  thought  of  the  fiery  destruction 
that  impended,  the  idea  of  the  coolness  of  the  well  came 
over  my  soul  like  balm.  I  rushed  to  its  deadly  brink. 
I  threw  my  straining  vision  below.  The  glare  from  the 
enkindled  roof  illumined  its  inmost  recesses.  Yet,  for  a 
wild  moment,  did  my  spirit  refuse  to  comprehend  the 
meaning  of  what  I  saw.  At  length  it  forced — it  wrestled 
its  way  into  my  soul — it  burned  itself  in  upon  my 
shuddering  reason.  Oh  for  a  voice  to  speak! — oh, 
horror  ! — oh,  any  horror  but  this !  With  a  shriek  I 
rushed  from  the  margin  and  buried  my  face  in  my 
hands — weeping  bitterly. 

The  heat  rapidly  increased,  and  once  again  I  looked 
up,  shuddering  as  with  a  fit  of  the  ague.  There  had 
been  a  second  change  in  the  cell — and  now  the  change 
was  obviously  in  the  form.  As  before,  it  was  in  vain 
that  I  at  first  endeavored  to  appreciate  or  understand 
what  was  taking  place.  But  not  long  was  I  left  in 
doubt.  The  inquisitorial  vengeance  had  been  hurried 
by  my  two-fold  escape,  and  there  was  to  be  no  more 
dallying  with  the  King  of  Terrors.  The  room  had 
been  square.  I  saw  that  two  of  its  iron  angles  were 
now  acute — two,  consequently,  obtuse.  The  fearful 
difference  quickly  increased  with  a  low  rumbling  or 
moaning  sound.  In  an  instant  the  apartment  had 
shifted  its  form  into  that  of  a  lozenge.  But  the  altera- 
tion stopped  not  here — I  neither  hoped  nor  desired  it 
to  stop.  I  could  have  clasped  the  red  walls  to  my 


166  THE  PIT  AND  THE  PENDULUM. 

bosom  as  a  garment  of  eternal  peace.  "  Death,"  I  said, 
"  any  death  but  that  of  the  pit ! "  Fool !  might  I  not 
have  known  that  into  the  pit  it  was  the  object  of  the 
burning  iron  to  urge  me  ?  Could  I  resist  its  glow  ?  or 
if  even  that,  could  I  withstand  its  pressure  ?  And  now, 
flatter  and  flatter  grew  the  lozenge,  with  a  rapidity 
that  left  me  no  time  for  contemplation.  Its  centre, 
and  of  course,  its  greatest  width,  came  just  over  the 
yawning  gulf.  I  shrank  back — but  the  closing  walls 
pressed  me  resistlessly  onward.  At  length  for  my 
seared  and  writhing  body  there  was  no  longer  an  inch 
of  foothold  on  the  firm  floor  of  the  prison.  I  struggled 
no  more,  but  the  agony  of  my  soul  found  vent  in  one 
loud,  long  and  final  scream  of  despair.  I  felt  that  I 
tottered  upon  the  brink — I  averted  my  eyes — 

There  was  a  discordant  hum  of  human  voices !  There 
was  a  loud  blast  as  of  many  trumpets !  There  was  a 
harsh  grating  as  of  a  thousand  thunders!  The  fiery 
walls  rushed  back!  An  outstretched  arm  caught  my 
own  as  I  fell  fainting  into  the  abyss.  It  was  that  of 
General  Lasalle.  The  French  army  had  entered  Toledo. 
The  Inquisition  was  in  the  hands  of  its  enemies. 


THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  RED  DEATH. 

The  "  Red  Death  "  had  long  devastated  the  country. 
No  pestilence  had  ever  been  so  fatal  or  so  hideous. 
Blood  was  its  Avatar  and  its  seal — the  redness  and  the 
horror  of  blood.  There  were  sharp  pains,  and  sudden 
dizziness,  and  then  profuse  bleeding  at  the  pores,  with 
dissolution.  The  scarlet  stains  upon  the  body,  and 
especially  upon  the  face  of  the  victim,  were  the  pest 
ban  which  shut  him  out  from  the  aid  and  from  the  sym- 
pathy of  his  fellow-men ;  and  the  whole  seizure,  progress, 
and  termination  of  the  disease,  were  the  incidents  of 
half-an-hour. 

But  the  Prince  Prospero  was  happy  and  dauntless 
and  sagacious.  When  his  dominions  were  half-depopu- 
lated, he  summoned  to  his  presence  a  thousand  hale 
and  light-hearted  friends  from  among  the  knights  and 
dames  of  his  court,  and  with  these  retired  to  the  deep 
seclusion  of  one  of  his  castellated  abbeys.  This  was 
an  extensive  and  magnificent  structure,  the  creation  of 
the  prince's  own  eccentric  yet  august  taste.  A  strong 
and  lofty  wall  girdled  it  in.  This  wall  had  gates  of 
iron.  The  courtiers,  having  entered,  brought  furnaces 
and  massy  hammers  and  welded  the  bolts.  They 
resolved  to  leave  means  neither  of  ingress  nor  egress  to 
the  sudden  impulses  of  despair  from  without  or  of 
frenzy  from  within.  The  abbey  was  amply  provisioned. 
With  such  precautions  the  courtiers  might  bid  defiance 
(167) 


168          THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  BED  DEATH. 

to  contagion.  The  external  world  could  take  care  of 
itself.  In  the  meantime  it  was  folly  to  grieve  or  to 
think.  The  prince  had  provided  all  the  appliances  of 
pleasure.  There  were  buffoons,  there  were  improvisa- 
tori,  there  were  ballet  dancers,  there  were  musicians, 
there  was  beauty,  there  was  wine.  All  these  and  secu- 
rity were  within.  Without  was  the  "  Red  Death." 

It  was  toward  the  close  of  the  fifth  or  sixth  month 
of  his  seclusion,  and  while  the  pestilence  raged  most 
furiously  abroad,  that  the  Prince  Prospero  entertained 
his  thousand  friends  at  ,a  masked  ball  of  the  most  un- 
usual magnificence. 

It  was  a  voluptuous  scene  that  masquerade.  But 
first  let  me  tell  of  the  rooms  in  which  it  was  held. 
There  were  seven — an  imperial  suite.  In  many  palaces, 
however,  such  suites  form  a  long  and  straight  vista, 
while  the  folding  doors  slide  back  nearly  to  the  walls 
on  either  hand,  so  that  the  view  of  the  whole  extent  is 
scarcely  impeded.  Here  the  case  was  very  different, 
as  might  have  been  expected  from  the  duke's  love  of 
the  bizarre.  The  apartments  were  so  irregularly  dis- 
posed that  the  vision  embraced  but  little  more  than 
one  at  a  time.  There  was  a  sharp  turn  at  every 
twenty  or  thirty  yards,  and  at  each  turn  a  novel  effect. 
To  the  right  and  left,  in  the  middle  of  each  wall,  a 
tall  and  narrow  Gothic  window  looked  out  upon  a 
closed  corridor  which  pursued  the  windings  of  the 
suite.  These  windows  were  of  stained  glass,  whose 
color  varied  in  accordance  with  the  prevailing  hue  of 
the  decorations  of  the  chamber  into  which  it  opened. 
That  at  the  eastern  extremity  was  hung,  for  example, 
in  blue,  and  vividly  blue  were  its  windows.  The 
second  chamber  was  purple  in  its  ornaments  and 
tapestries,  and  here  the  panes  were  purple.  The  third 


THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  BED  DEATH.          169 

was  green  throughout,  and  so  were  the  casements. 
The  fourth  was  furnished  and  lighted  with  orange,  the 
fifth  with  white,  the  sixth  with  violet.  The  seventh 
apartment  was  closely  shrouded  in  black  velvet  tapes- 
tries that  hung  all  over  the  ceiling  and  down  the  walls, 
falling  in  heavy  folds  upon  a  carpet  of  the  same 
material  and  hue.  But  in  this  chamber  only  the 
color  of  the  windows  failed  to  correspond  with  the  deco- 
rations. The  panes  here  were  scarlet — a  deep  blood- 
color.  Now  in  no  one  of  the  seven  apartments  was 
there  any  lamp  or  candelabrum  amid  the  profusion 
of  golden  ornaments  that  lay  scattered  to  and  fro  or 
depended  from  the  roof.  There  was  no  light  of  any 
kind  emanating  from  lamp  or  candle  within  the  suite 
of  chambers;  but  in  the  corridors  that  followed  the 
suite  there  stood  opposite  to  each  window  a  heavy  tripod 
bearing  a  brazier  of  fire  that  projected  its  rays  through 
the  tinted  glass  and  so  glaringly  illumined  the  room. 
And  thus  were  produced  a  multitude  of  gaudy  and 
fantastic  appearances.  But  in  the  eastern  or  black 
chamber  the  effect  of  the  fire-light  that  streamed  upon 
the  dark  hangings,  through  the  blood-tinted  panes,  was 
ghastly  in  the  extreme,  and  produced  so  wild  a  look 
upon  the  countenances  of  those  who  entered  that  there 
were  few  of  the  company  bold  enough  to  set  foot  within 
its  precincts  at  all. 

It  was  in  this  apartment  also  that  there  stood  against 
the  western  wall  a  gigantic  clock  of  ebony.  Its  pendu- 
lum swung  to  and  fro  with  a  dull,  heavy,  monotonous 
clang ;  and  when  the  minute-hand  made  the  circuit  of 
the  face,  and  -  the  hour  was  to  be  stricken,  there  came 
from  the  brazen  lungs  of  the  clock  a  sound  which  was 
clear  and  loud,  and  deep,  and  exceedingly  musical,  but 
of  so  peculiar  a  note  and  emphasis  that,  at  each  lapse 


170          THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  EED  DEATH. 

of  an  hour,  the  musicians  of  the  orchestra  were  con- 
strained to  pause  momentarily  in  their  performance  to 
hearken  to  the  sound;  and  thus  the  waltzers  perforce 
ceased  their  evolutions,  and  there  was  a  brief  disconcert 
of  the  whole  gay  company,  and  while  the  chimes  of 
the  clock  yet  rang  it  was  observed  that  the  giddiest 
grew  pale,  and  the  more  aged  and  sedate  passed  their 
hands  over  their  brows  as  if  in  confused  reverie  or 
meditation;  but  when  the  echoes  had  fully  ceased  a 
light  laughter  at  once  pervaded  the  assembly;  the 
musicians  looked  at  each  other  and  smiled  as  if  at  their 
own  nervousness  and  folly,  and  made  whispering  vows 
each  to  the  other  that  the  next  chiming  of  the  clock 
should  produce  in  them  no  similar  emotion,  and  then, 
after  the  lapse  of  sixty  minutes  (which  embrace  three 
thousand  and  six  hundred  seconds  of  the  time  that  flies), 
there  came  yet  another  chiming  of  the  clock,  and  then 
were  the  same  disconcert  and  tremulousness  and  medi- 
tation as  before. 

But  in  spite  of  these  things  it  was  a  gay  and  magnifi- 
cent revel.  The  tastes  of  the  duke  were  peculiar.  He 
had  a  fine  eye  for  colors  and  effects.  He  disregarded 
the  decora  of  mere  fashion.  His  plans  were  bold  and 
fiery,  and  his  conceptions  glowed  with  barbaric  lustre. 
There  are  some  who  would  have  thought  him  mad. 
His  followers  felt  that  he  was  not.  It  was  necessary 
to  hear,  and  see,  and  touch  him  to  be  sure  that  he  was 
not. 

He  had  directed,  in  great  part,  the  movable  embel- 
lishments of  the  seven  chambers,  upon  occasion  of 
this  great  ftte ;  and  it  was  his  own  guiding  taste  which 
had  given  character  to  the  masqueraders.  Be  sure 
they  were  grotesque.  There  were  much  glare  and 
glitter  and  piquancy  and  phantasm — much  of  what 


THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  RED  DEATH.         171 

has  been  since  seen  in  "Hernani."  There  were  ara- 
besque figures  with  unsuited  limbs  and  appointments. 
There  were  delirious  fancies  such  as  the  mad-man 
fashions.  There  were  much  of  the  beautiful,  much 
of  the  wanton,  much  of  the  bizarre,  something  of 
the  terrible,  and  not  a  little  of  that  which  might  have 
excited  disgust.  To  and  fro  in  the  seven  chambers 
there  stalked,  in  fact,  a  multitude  of  dreams.  And 
these — the  dreams — writhed  in  and  about,  taking  hue 
from  the  rooms,  and  causing  the  wild  music  of  the 
orchestra  to  seem  as  the  echo  of  their  steps.  And, 
anon,  there  strikes  the  ebony  clock  which  stands  in 
the  hall  of  the  velvet ;  and  then,  for  a  moment  all  is 
still,  and  all  is  silent  save  the  voice  of  the  clock.  The 
dreams  are  stiff-frozen  as  they  stand.  But  the  echoes 
of  the  chime  die  away — they  have  endured  but  an 
instant — and  a  light,  half-subdued  laughter  floats  after 
them  as  they  depart.  And  now  again  the  music  swells, 
and  the  dreams  live,  and  writhe  to  and  fro  more 
merrily  than  ever,  taking  hue  from  the  many  tinted 
windows  through  which  stream  the  rays  from  the 
tripods.  But  to  the  chamber  which  lies  most  east- 
wardly  of  the  seven,  there  are  now  none  of  the  maskers 
who  venture  ;  for  the  night  is  waning  away ;  and  there 
flows  a  ruddier  light  through  the  blood-colored  pane : 
and  the  blackness  of  the  sable  drapery  appalls  :  and  to 
him  whose  foot  falls  upon  the  sable  carpet,  there  comes 
from  the  near  clock  of  ebony  a  muffled  peal  more 
solemnly  emphatic  than  any  which  reaches  their  ears 
who  indulge  in  the  more  remote  gayeties  of  the  other 
apartments. 

But  these  other  apartments  were  densely  crowded, 
and  in  them  beat  feverishly  the  heart  of  life.  And 
the  revel  went  whirlingly  on,  until  at  length  there 


172          THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  RED  DEATH. 

commenced  the  sounding  of  midnight  upon  the  clock. 
And  then  the  music  ceased,  as  I  have  told ;  and  the 
evolutions  of  the  waltzers  were  quieted ;  and  there  was 
an  uneasy  cessation  of  all  things  as  before.  But  now 
there  were  twelve  strokes  to  be  sounded  by  the  bell  of 
the  clock ;  and  thus  it  happened,  perhaps  that  more  of 
thought  crept,  with  more  of  time,  into  the  meditations 
of  the  thoughtful  among  those  who  reveled.  And 
thus,  too,  it  happened,  perhaps,  that  before  the  last 
echoes  of  the  last  chime  had  utterly  sunk  into  silence, 
there  were  many  individuals  in  the  crowd  who  had 
found  leisure  to  become  aware  of  the  presence  of 
a  masked  figure  which  had  arrested  the  attention 
of  no  single  individual  before.  And  the  rumor  of 
this  new  presence  having  spread  itself  whisperingly 
around,  there  arose  at  length  from  the  whole  company 
a  buzz,  or  murmur,  expressive  of  disapprobation  and 
surprise — then,  finally,  of  terror,  of  horror,  and  of 
disgust. 

In  an  assembly  of  phantasms  such  as  I  have  painted, 
it  may  well  be  supposed  that  no  ordinary  appearance 
could  have  excited  such  sensation.  In  truth  the 
masquerade  license  of  the  night  was  nearly  unlimited ; 
but  the  figure  in  question  had  out-Heroded  Herod,  and 
gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  even  the  prince's  indefinite 
decorum.  There  are  chords  in  the  hearts  of  the  most 
reckless  which  cannot  be  touched  without  emotion. 
Even  with  the  utterly  lost,  to  whom  life  and  death 
are  equally  jests,  there  are  matters  of  which  no  jest 
can  be  made.  The  whole  company  indeed  seemed 
now  deeply  to  feel  that  in  the  costume  and  bearing  of 
the  stranger  neither  wit  nor  propriety  existed.  The 
figure  was  tall  and  gaunt,  and  shrouded  from  head 
to  foot  in  the  habiliments  of  the  grave.  The  mask 


THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  RED  DEATH.         173 

which  concealed  the  visage  was  made  so  nearly  to 
resemble  the  countenance  of  a  stiffened  corpse  that  the 
closest  scrutiny  must  have  had  difficulty  in  detecting 
the  cheat.  And  yet  all  this  might  have  been  endured, 
if  not  approved,  by  the  mad  revelers  around.  But  the 
mummer  had  gone  so  far  as  to  assume  the  type  of  the 
Red  Death.  His  vesture  was  dabbled  in  blood — and 
his  broad  brow  with  all  the  features  of  the  face,  was 
besprinkled  with  the  scarlet  horror. 

When  the  eyes  of  Prince  Prospero  fell  upon  this 
spectral  image  (which  with  a  slow  and  solemn  move- 
ment, as  if  more  fully  to  sustain  its  role,  stalked  to  and 
fro  among  the  waltzers)  he  was  seen  to  be  convulsed 
in  the  first  moment  with  a  strong  shudder  either  of 
terror  or  distaste ;  but  in  the  next  his  brow  reddened 
with  rage. 

"  Who  dares  ?  "  he  demanded  hoarsely  of  the  courtiers 
who  stood  near  him — "  Who  dares  insult  us  with  this 
blasphemous  mockery?  Seize  him  and  unmask  him, 
that  we  may  know  whom  we  have  to  hang  at  sunrise 
from  the  battlements ! " 

It  was  in  the  eastern  or  blue  chamber  in  which 
stood  the  Prince  Prospero  as  he  uttered  these  words. 
They  rang  throughout  the  seven  rooms  loudly  and 
clearly — for  the  prince  was  a  bold  and  robust  man, 
and  the  music  had  become  hushed  at  the  waving  of  his 
hand. 

It  was  in  the  blue  room  where  stood  the  prince,  with 
a  group  of  pale  courtiers  by  his  side.  At  first,  as  he 
spoke,  there  was  a  slight  rushing  movement  of  this 
group  in  the  direction  of  the  intruder,  who,  at  the 
moment  was  also  near  at  hand,  and  now,  with  delib- 
erate and  stately  step,  made  closer  approach  to  the 
speaker.  But,  from  a  certain  nameless  awe  with  which 


174          THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  RED  DEATH. 

the  mad  assumptions  of  the  mummer  had  inspired  the 
whole  party,  there  were  found  none  who  put  forth  hand 
to  seize  him ;  so  that  unimpeded  he  passed  within  a 
yard  of  the  prince's  person  ;  and  while  the  vast  assem- 
bly, as  if  with  one  impulse,  shrank  from  the  centres  of 
the  rooms  to  the  walls,  he  made  his  way  uninterruptedly, 
but  with  the  same  solemn  and  measured  step  which 
had  distinguished  him  from  the  first,  through  the  blue 
chamber  to  the  purple — through  the  purple  to  the 
green — through  the  green  to  the  orange — through 
this  again  to  the  white — and  even  thence  to  the  violet, 
ere  a  decided  movement  had  been  made  to  arrest  him. 
It  was  then,  however,  that  the  Prince  Prospero,  mad- 
dening with  rage  and  the  shame  of  his  own  momentary 
cowardice,  rushed  hurriedly  through  the  six  chambers, 
while  none  followed  him  on  account  of  a  deadly  terror 
that  had  seized  upon  all.  He  bore  aloft  a  drawn 
dagger,  and  had  approached  in  rapid  impetuosity,  to 
within  three  or  four  feet  of  the  retreating  figure,  when 
the  latter,  having  attained  the  extremity  of  the  velvet 
apartment,  turned  suddenly  and  confronted  his  pur- 
suer. There  was  a  sharp  cry — and  the  dagger  dropped 
gleaming  upon  the  sable  carpet,  upon  which,  instantly 
afterwards,  fell  prostrate  in  death  the  Prince  Prospero. 
Then,  summoning  the  wild  courage  of  despair,  a  throng 
of  the  revelers  at  once  threw  themselves  into  the  black 
apartment,  and  seizing  the  mummer,  whose  tall  figure 
stood  erect  and  motionless  within  the  shadow  of  the 
ebony  clock,  gasped  in  unutterable  horror  at  finding 
the  grave  cerements  and  corpse-like  mask  which  they 
handled  with  so  violent  a  rudeness,  untenanted  by  any 
tangible  form. 

And  now  was  acknowledged  the  presence  of  the  Red 
Death.     He  had  come  like  a  thief  in  the  night ;  and  one 


THE  MASQUE  OF  THE  BED  DEATH.          175 

by  one  dropped  the  revelers  in  the  blood-bedewed  halls 
of  their  revel,  and  died  each  in  the  despairing  posture 
of  his  fall ;  and  the  life  of  the  ebony  clock  went  out 
with  that  of  the  last  of  the  gay ;  and  the  flames  of  the 
tripods  expired ;  and  darkness  and  decay  and  the  Red 
Death  held  illimitable  dominion  over  all. 


THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO. 

The  thousand  injuries  of  Fortunate  I  had  borne  as  I 
best  could,  but  when  he  ventured  upon  insult,  I  vowed 
revenge.  You,  who  so  well  know  the  nature  of  my 
soul,  will  not  suppose,  however,  that  I  gave  utterance 
to  a  threat.  At  length  I  would  be  avenged ;  this  was  a 
point  definitively  settled — but  the  very  definitiveness 
with  which  it  was  resolved  precluded  the  idea  of  risk. 
I  must  not  only  punish,  but  punish  with  impunity.  A 
wrong  is  unredressed  when  retribution  overtakes  its 
redresser.  It  is  equally  unredressed  when  the  avenger 
fails  to  make  himself  felt  as  such  to  him  who  has  done 
the  wrong. 

It  must  be  understood  that  neither  by  word  nor  deed 
had  I  given  Fortunate  cause  to  doubt  my  good  will.  I 
continued,  as  was  my  wont,  to  smile  in  his  face,  and  he 
did  not  perceive  that  my  smile  now  was  at  the  thought 
of  his  immolation. 

He  had  a  weak  point — this  Fortunate — although  in 
other  regards  he  was  a  man  to  be  respected  and  even 
feared.  He  prided  himself  on  his  connoisseurship  in 
wine.  Few  Italians  have  the  true  virtuoso  spirit.  For 
the  most  part  their  enthusiasm  is  adapted  to  suit  the 
time  and  opportunity  to  practice  imposture  upon  the 
British  and  Austrian  millionaires.  In  painting  and 
gemmary  Fortunate,  like  his  countrymen,  was  a  quack, 
but  in  the  matter  of  old  wines  he  was  sincere.  In  this 
Vol.  I.— 12.  (177) 


178  THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO. 

respect  I  did  not  differ  from  him  materially;  I  was 
skillful  in  the  Italian  vintages  myself,  and  bought  largely 
whenever  I  could. 

It  was  about  dusk  one  evening  during  the  supreme 
madness  of  the  carnival  season,  that  I  encountered  my 
friend.  He  accosted  me  with  excessive  warmth,  for  he 
had  been  drinking  much.  The  man  wore  motley.  He 
had  on  a  tight-fitting  parti-striped  dress,  and  his  head 
was  surmounted  by  the  conical  cap  and  bells.  I  was  so 
pleased  to  see  him,  that  I  thought  I  should  never  have 
done  wringing  his  hand. 

I  said  to  him — "  My  dear  Fortunato,  you  are  luckily 
met.  How  remarkably  well  you  are  looking  to-day! 
But  I  have  received  a  pipe  of  what  passes  for  Amon- 
tillado, and  I  have  my  doubts." 

"  How  ?  "  said  he,  "  Amontillado  ?  A  pipe  ?  Impos- 
sible !  And  in  the  middle  of  the  carnival  ?  " 

"I  have  my  doubts,"  I  replied,  "and  I  was  silly 
enough  to  pay  the  full  Amontillado  price  without  con- 
sulting you  in  the  matter.  You  were  not  to  be  found, 
and  I  was  fearful  of  losing  a  bargain." 

"  Amontillado ! " 

"  I  have  my  doubts." 

"Amontillado!" 

"  And  I  must  satisfy  them." 

"  Amontillado ! " 

"  As  you  are  engaged,  I  am  on  my  way  to  Luchesi. 
If  any  one  has  a  critical  turn,  it  is  he.  He  will  tell 
me" 

"  Luchesi  cannot  tell  Amontillado  from  Sherry." 

"  And  yet  some  fools  will  have  it  that  his  taste  is  a 
match  for  your  own." 

"  Come  let  us  go." 

"Whither?" 


THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO.  179 

"  To  your  vaults." 

"  My  friend,  no ;  I  will  not  impose  upon  your  good 
nature.  I  perceive  you  have  an  engagement.  Lu- 
chesi " 

"  I  have  no  engagement ;  come." 

"  My  friend,  no.  It  is  not  the  engagement,  but  the 
severe  cold  with  which  I  perceive  you  are  afflicted.  The 
vaults  are  insufferably  damp.  They  are  encrusted  with 
nitre." 

"  Let  us  go,  nevertheless.  The  cold  is  merely  noth- 
ing. Amontillado  I  You  have  been  imposed  upon; 
and  as  for  Luchesi,  he  cannot  distinguish  Sherry  from 
Amontillado." 

Thus  speaking,  Fortunate  possessed  himself  of  my  arm. 
Putting  on  a  mask  of  black  silk,  and  drawing  a  roque- 
laure  closely  about  my  person,  I  suffered  him  to  hurry 
me  to  my  palazzo. 

There  were  no  attendants  at  home ;  they  had  ab- 
sconded to  make  merry  in  honor  of  the  time.  I  had  told 
them  that  I  should  not  return  until  the  morning,  and 
had  given  them  explicit  orders  not  to  stir  from  the 
house.  These  orders  were  sufficient,  I  well  knew,  to  in- 
sure their  immediate  disappearance,  one  and  all,  as  soon 
as  my  back  was  turned. 

I  took  from  their  sconces  two  flambeaux,  and  giving 
one  to  Fortunate,  bowed  him  through  several  suites  of 
rooms  to  the  archway  that  led  into  the  vaults.  I  passed 
down  a  long  and  winding  staircase  requesting  him  to  be 
cautious  as  he  followed.  We  came  at  length  to  the  foot 
of  the  descent,  and  stood  together  on  the  damp  ground 
of  the  catacombs  of  the  Montresors. 

The  gait  of  my  friend  was  unsteady,  and  the  bella 
upon  his  cap  jingled  as  he  strode. 

"  The  pipe,"  said  he. 


180  THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO. 

"  It  is  farther  on,"  said  I ;  "  but  observe  the  white 
webwork  which  gleams  from  these  cavern  walls." 

He  turned  towards  me,  and  looked  into  my  eyes 
with  two  filmy  orbs  that  distilled  the  rheum  of  intoxi- 
cation. 

"  Nitre?"  he  asked,  at  length. 

"  Nitre,"  I  replied.  "  How  long  have  you  had  that 
cough !  " 

"  Ugh !  ugh  !  ugh ! — ugh !  ugh !  ugh ! — ugh  !  ugh ! 
ugh  ! — ugh !  ugh !  ugh  ! — ugh  !  ugh !  ugh !  " 

My  poor  friend  found  it  impossible  to  reply  for  many 
minutes. 

"  It  is  nothing,"  he  said,  at  last. 

"  Come,"  I  said  with  decision,  "  we  will  go  back ;  your 
health  is  precious.  You  are  rich,  respected,  admired, 
beloved ;  you  are  happy,  as  once  I  was.  You  are  a  man 
to  be  missed.  For  me  it  is  no  matter.  We  will  go 
back  ;  you  will  be  ill,  and  I  cannot  be  responsible.  Be- 
sides, there  is  Luchesi  " 

"  Enough,"  he  said ;  "  the  cough  is  a  mere  noth- 
ing ;  it  will  not  kill  me.  I  shall  not  die  of  a 
cough." 

"  True — true,"  I  replied ;  "  and,  indeed,  I  had  no  in- 
tention of  alarming  you  unnecessarily — but  you  should 
use  all  proper  caution.  A  draught  of  this  Medoc  will 
defend  us  from  the  damps." 

Here  I  knocked  off  the  neck  of  a  bottle  which  I  drew 
from  a  long  row  of  its  fellows  that  lay  upon  the 
mould. 

"  Drink,"  I  said,  presenting  him  the  wine. 

He  raised  it  to  his  lips  with  a  leer.  He  paused  and 
nodded  to  me  familiarly,  while  his  bells  jingled. 

"  I  drink,"  he  said,  "  to  the  buried  that  repose  around 
us." 


THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO.  181 

"  And  I  to  your  long  life." 

He  again  took  my  arm  and  we  proceeded. 

"  These  vaults,"  he  said,  "  are  extensive." 

"  The  Montresors,"  I  replied,  "  were  a  great  and  num- 
erous family." 

"  I  forget  your  arms." 

"  A  huge  human  foot  d'or,  in  a  field  azure ;  the  foot 
crushes  a  serpent  rampant  whose  fangs  are  embedded  in 
the  heel." 

"And  the  motto?" 

"  Nemo  me  impune  lacessit." 

"  Good ! "  he  said. 

The  wine  sparkled  in  his  eyes  and  the  bells  jingled. 
My  own  fancy  grew  warm  with  the  Medoc.  We  had 
passed  through  walls  of  piled  bones,  with  casks  and 
puncheons  intermingling,  into  the  inmost  recesses  of  the 
catacombs.  I  paused  again,  and  this  time  I  made  bold 
to  seize  Fortunato  by  an  arm  above  the  elbow. 

"  The  nitre !  "  I  said ;  "  see,  it  increases.  It  hangs 
like  moss  upon  the  vaults.  We  are  below  the  river's 
bed.  The  drops  of  moisture  trickle  among  the  bones. 
Come,  we  will  go  back  ere  it  is  too  late.  Your 
cough  " 

"  It  is  nothing,"  he  said ;  "  let  us  go  on.  But  first, 
another  draught  of  the  Medoc." 

I  broke  and  reached  him  a  flagon  of  De  Grave.  He 
emptied  it  at  a  breath.  His  eyes  flashed  with  a  fierce 
light.  He  laughed  and  threw  the  bottle  upwards  with 
a  gesticulation  I  did  not  understand. 

I  looked  at  him  in  surprise.  He  repeated  the  move- 
ment— a  grotesque  one. 

"  You  do  not  comprehend  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Not  I,"  I  replied. 

"  Then  you  are  not  of  the  brotherhood." 


182  THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO. 

"How?" 

"  You  are  not  of  the  masons." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  I  said,  "  yes,  yes." 

"  You  ?    Impossible  !    A  mason  ?  " 

"  A  mason,"  I  replied. 

"  A  sign,"  he  said. 

"  It  is  this,"  I  answered,  producing  a  trowel  from  be- 
neath the  folds  of  my  roquelaure. 

"You  jest,"  he  exclaimed,  recoiling  a  few  paces. 
"  But  let  us  proceed  to  the  Amontillado." 

"  Be  it  so,"  I  said,  replacing  the  tool  beneath  the  cloak, 
and  again  offering  him  my  arm.  He  leaned  upon  it 
heavily.  We  continued  our  route  in  search  of  the 
Amontillado.  "We  passed  through  a  range  of  low 
arches,  descended,  passed  on,  and  descending  again, 
arrived  at  a  deep  crypt,  in  which  the  foulness  of  the  air 
caused  our  flambeaux  rather  to  glow  than  flame. 

At  the  most  remote  end  of  the  crypt  there  appeared 
another  less  spacious.  Its  walls  had  been  lined  with 
human  remains  piled  to  the  vault  overhead,  in  the 
fashion  of  the  great  catacombs  of  Paris.  Three  sides 
of  this  interior  crypt  were  still  ornamented  in  this 
manner.  From  the  fourth  the  bones  had  been  thrown 
down,  and  lay  promiscuously  upon  the  earth,  forming 
at  one  point  a  mound  of  some  size.  Within  the  wall 
thus  exposed  by  the  displacing  of  the  bones,  we  per- 
ceived a  still  interior  recess,  in  depth  about  four  feet, 
in  width  three,  in  height  six  or  seven.  It  seemed  to 
have  been  constructed  for  no  especial  use  within  itself, 
but  formed  merely  the  interval  between  two  of  the 
colossal  supports  of  the  roof  of  the  catacombs,  and  was 
backed  by  one  of  their  circumscribing  walls  of  solid 
granite. 

It  was  in  vain  that  Fortunate,  uplifting  his  dull 


THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO.  183 

torch,  endeavored  to  pry  into  the  depths  of  the  recess. 
Its  termination  the  feeble  light  did  not  enable  us 
to  see. 

"  Proceed,"  I  said ;  "  herein  is  the  Amontillado.  As 
for  Luchesi  " 

"  He  is  an  ignoramus,"  interrupted  my  friend,  as  he 
stepped  unsteadily  forward,  while  I  followed  immedi- 
ately at  his  heels.  In  an  instant  he  had  reached  the 
extremity  of  the  niche,  and  finding  his  progress  arrested 
by  the  rock,  stood  stupidly  bewildered.  A  moment 
more  and  I  had  fettered  him  to  the  granite.  In  its 
surface  were  two  iron  staples,  distant  from  each  other 
about  two  feet,  horizontally.  From  one  of  these  de- 
pended a  short  chain,  from  the  other  a  padlock.  Throw- 
ing the  links  about  his  waist,  it  was  but  the  work  of  a 
few  seconds  to  secure  it.  He  was  too  much  astounded 
to  resist.  Withdrawing  the  key  I  stepped  back  from 
the  recess. 

"  Pass  your  hand,"  I  said,  "  over  the  wall ;  you  cannot 
help  feeling  the  nitre.  Indeed  it  is  very  damp.  Once 
more  let  me  implore  you  to  return.  No?  Then  I  must 
positively  leave  you.  But  I  must  first  render  you  all 
the  little  attentions  in  my  power." 

"The  Amontillado!"  ejaculated  my  friend,  not  yet 
recovered  from  his  astonishment. 

"  True,"  I  replied,  "  the  Amontillado." 

As  I  said  these  words  I  busied  myself  among  the  pile 
of  bones  of  which  I  have  before  spoken.  Throwing 
them  aside,  I  soon  uncovered  a  quantity  of  building 
stone  and  mortar.  With  these  materials  and  with  the 
aid  of  my  trowel,  I  began  vigorously  to  wall  up  the 
entrance  of  the  niche. 

I  had  scarcely  laid  the  first  tier  of  the  masonry  when 
I  discovered  that  the  intoxication  of  Fortunate  had  in 


184  THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO. 

a  great  measure  worn  off.  The  earliest  indication  I  had 
of  this  was  a  low  moaning  cry  from  the  depth  of  the 
recess.  It  was  not  the  cry  of  a  drunken  man.  There 
was  then  a  long  and  obstinate  silence.  I  laid  the  second 
tier,  and  the  third,  and  the  fourth  ;  and  then  I  heard 
the  furious  vibrations  of  the  chain.  The  noise  lasted 
for  several  minutes,  during  which,  that  I  might  hearken 
to  it  with  the  more  satisfaction,  I  ceased  my  labors  and 
sat  down  upon  the  bones.  When  at  last  the  clanking 
subsided,  I  resumed  the  trowel,  and  finished  without 
interruption  the  fifth,  the  sixth,  and  the  seventh  tier. 
The  wall  was  now  nearly  upon  a  level  with  my  breast. 
I  again  paused,  and  holding  the  flambeaux  over  the 
mason-work,  threw  a  few  feeble  rays  upon  the  figure 
within. 

A  succession  of  loud  and  shrill  screams,  bursting 
suddenly  from  the  throat  of  the  chained  form,  seemed 
to  thrust  me  violently  back.  For  a  brief  moment  I 
hesitated — I  trembled.  Unsheathing  my  rapier,  I  began 
to  grope  with  it  about  the  recess;  but  the  thought  of 
an  instant  reassured  me.  I  placed  my  hand  upon  the 
solid  fabric  of  the  catacombs,  and  felt  satisfied.  I  re- 
approached  the  wall.  I  replied  to  the  yells  of  him  who 
clamored.  I  re-echoed — I  aided — I  surpassed  them  in 
volume  and  in  strength.  I  did  this,  and  the  clamorer 
grew  still. 

It  was  now  midnight,  and  my  task  was  drawing  to 
a  close.  I  had  completed  the  eighth,  the  ninth  and  the 
tenth  tier.  I  had  finished  a  portion  of  the  last  and 
the  eleventh ;  there  remained  but  a  single  stone  to 
be  fitted  and  plastered  in.  I  struggled  with  its  weight ; 
I  placed  it  partially  in  its  destined  position.  But  now 
there  came  from  out  the  niche  a  low  laugh  that 
erected  the  hairs  upon  my  head.  It  was  succeeded 


THE  CASK  OF  AMONTILLADO.  185 

by  a  sad  voice,  which  I  had  difficulty  in  recognizing  as 
that  of  the  noble  Fortunate.  The  voice  said — 

"  Ha !  ha  !  ha  !  he  !  he ! — a  very  good  joke  indeed 
— an  excellent  jest.  We  will  have  many  a  rich  laugh 
about  it  at  the  palazzo — he  !  he !  he  ! — over  our  wine — 
he !  he  !  he ! " 

"  The  Amontillado  !  "  I  said. 

"  He  !  he !  he ! — he  !  he !  he ! — yes,  the  Amontillado. 
But  is  it  not  getting  late  ?  Will  not  they  be  awaiting 
us  at  the  palazzo,  the  Lady  Fortunate  and  the  rest? 
Let  us  be  gone. " 

"  Yes, "  I  said,  "  let  us  be  gone. " 

"  For  the  love  of  God,  Montresor!  " 

"  Yes, "  I  said,  "  for  the  love  of  God ! " 

But  to  these  words  I  hearkened  in  vain  for  a  reply. 
I  grew  impatient.  I  called  aloud — 

"  Fortunate ! " 

No  answer.     I  called  again — 

"  Fortunate ! " 

No  answer  still.  I  thrust  a  torch  through  the  remain- 
ing aperture  and  let  it  fall  within.  There  came  forth  in 
return  only  a  jingling  of  the  bells.  My  heart  grew 
sick — on  account  of  the  dampness  of  the  catacombs. 
I  hastened  to  make  an  end  of  my  labor.  I  forced  the 
last  stone  into  its  position ;  I  plastered  it  up.  Against 
the  new  masonry  I  re-erected  the  old  rampart  of  bones. 
For  the  half  of  a  century  no  mortal  has  disturbed  them. 

In  pace  requiescat  I 


MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

Whatever  doubt  may  still  envelop  the  rationale  of 
mesmerism,  its  startling  facts  are  now  almost  univer- 
sally admitted.  Of  these  latter,  those  who  doubt  are 
your  mere  doubters  by  profession — an  unprofitable  and 
disreputable  tribe.  There  can  be  no  more  absolute 
waste  of  time  than  the  attempt  to  prove  at  the  present 
day  that  man,  by  mere  exercise  of  will,  can  so  impress 
his  fellow  as  to  cast  him  into  an  abnormal  condition, 
of  which  the  phenomena  resemble  very  closely  those  of 
death,  or  at  least  resemble  them  more  nearly  than  they 
do  the  phenomena  of  any  other  normal  condition  within 
our  cognizance  ;  that,  while  in  this  state,  the  person  so 
impressed  employs  only  with  effort,  and  then  feebly,  the 
external  organs  of  sense,  yet  perceives  with  keenly 
refined  perception,  and  through  channels  supposed 
unknown,  matters  beyond  the  scope  of  the  physical 
organs;  that,  moreover,  his  intellectual  faculties  are 
wonderfully  exalted  and  invigorated ;  that  his  sympa- 
thies with  the  person  so  impressing  him  are  profound ; 
and,  finally,  that  his  susceptibility  to  the  impression 
increases  with  its  frequency,  while,  in  the  same  propor- 
tion, the  peculiar  phenomena  elicited  are  more  extended 
and  more  pronounced. 

I  say  that  these — which  are  the  laws  of  mesmerism 
in  its  general  features — it  would  be  supererogation  to 
(187) 


188  MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

demonstrate,  nor  shall  I  inflict  upon  my  readers  so 
needless  a  demonstration  to-day.  My  purpose  at  present 
is  a  very  different  one  indeed.  I  am  impelled,  even  in 
the  teeth  of  a  world  of  prejudice,  to  detail  without 
comment  the  very  remarkable  substance  of  a  colloquy 
occurring  between  a  sleep-waker  and  myself. 

I  had  been  long  in  the  habit  of  mesmerizing  the 
person  in  question  (Mr.  Vankirk),  and  the  usual  acute 
susceptibility  and  exaltation  of  the  mesmeric  percep- 
tion had  supervened.  For  many  months  he  had  been 
laboring  under  confirmed  phthisis,  the  more  distressing 
effects  of  which  had  been  relieved  by  my  manipulations, 
and  on  the  night  of  Wednesday,  the  fifteenth  instant,  I 
was  summoned  to  his  bedside. 

The  invalid  was  suffering  with  acute  pain  in  the  region 
of  the  heart,  and  breathed  with  great  difficulty,  having 
all  the  ordinary  symptoms  of  asthma.  In  spasms  such 
as  these  he  had  usually  found  relief  from  the  applica- 
tion of  mustard  to  the  nervous  centres,  but  to-night  this 
had  been  attempted  in  vain. 

As  I  entered  his  room  he  greeted  me  with  a  cheerful 
smile,  and  although  evidently  in  much  bodily  pain, 
appeared  to  be  mentally  quite  at  ease. 

"  I  sent  for  you  to-night, "  he  said,  "  not  so  much 
to  administer  to  my  bodily  ailment,  as  to  satisfy  me 
concerning  certain  psychical  impressions  which  of  late 
have  occasioned  me  much  anxiety  and  surprise.  I  need 
not  tell  you  how  skeptical  I  have  hitherto  been  on  the 
topic  of  the  soul's  immortality.  I  cannot  deny  that 
there  has  always  existed,  as  if  in  that  very  soul  which 
I  have  been  denying,  a  vague  half-sentiment  of  its 
own  existence.  But  this  half-sentiment  at  no  time 
amounted  to  conviction.  With  it  my  reason  had 
nothing  to  do.  All  attempts  at  logical  inquiry  resulted, 


MESMERIC  REVELATION.  189 

indeed  in  leaving  me  more  skeptical  than  before.  I 
had  been  advised  to  study  Cousin.  I  studied  him  in 
his  own  works,  as  well  as  in  those  of  his  European 
and  American  echoes.  The  '  Charles  Elwood '  of  Mr. 
Brownson,  for  example,  was  placed  in  my  hands.  I 
read  it  with  profound  attention.  Throughout  I  found 
it  logical,  but  the  portions  which  were  not  merely 
logical  were  unhappily  the  initial  arguments  of  the 
disbelieving  hero  of  the  book.  In  his  summing  up  it 
seemed  evident  to  me  that  the  reasoner  had  not  even 
succeeded  in  convincing  himself.  His  end  had  plainly 
forgotten  his  beginning,  like  the  government  of  Trin- 
culo.  In  short,  I  was  not  long  in  perceiving  that  if 
man  is  to  be  intellectually  convinced  of  his  own  im- 
mortality, he  will  never  be  so  convinced  by  the  mere 
abstractions  which  have  been  so  long  the  fashion  of  the 
moralists  of  England,  of  France,  and  of  Germany. 
Abstractions  may  amuse  and  exercise,  but  take  no  hold 
on  the  mind.  Here  upon  earth,  at  least,  philosophy,  I 
am  persuaded,  will  always  in  vain  call  upon  us  to  look 
upon  qualities  as  things.  The  will  may  assent — the  soul 
— the  intellect,  never. 

"  I  repeat,  then,  that  I  only  half-felt,  and  never  intel- 
lectually believed.  But  latterly  there  has  been  a  certain 
deepening  of  the  feeling,  until  it  has  come  so  nearly 
to  resemble  the  acquiescence  of  reason,  that  I  find  it 
difficult  to  distinguish  between  the  two.  I  am  enabled, 
too,  plainly  to  trace  this  effect  to  the  mesmeric  in- 
fluence. I  cannot  better  explain  my  meaning  than  by 
the  hypothesis  that  the  mesmeric  exaltation  enables 
me  to  perceive  a  train  of  ratiocination  which,  in  my 
abnormal  existence,  convinces,  but  which,  in  full  ac- 
cordance with  the  mesmeric  phenomena,  does  not  extend, 
except  through  its  effect,  into  my  normal  condition. 


190  MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

In  sleep-waking,  the  reasoning  and  its  conclusion — the 
cause  and  its  effect — are  present  together.  In  my  natu- 
ral state,  the  cause  vanishing,  the  effect  only,  and  per- 
haps only  partially,  remains. 

"  These  considerations  have  led  me  to  think  that  some 
good  results  might  ensue  from  a  series  of  •well-directed 
questions  propounded  to  me  while  mesmerized.  You 
have  often  observed  the  profound  self-cognizance  evinced 
by  the  sleep-waker — the  extensive  knowledge  he  dis- 
plays upon  all  points  relating  to  the  mesmeric  condition 
itself;  and  from  this  self-cognizance  may  be  deduced 
hints  for  the  proper  conduct  of  a  catechism." 

I  consented  of  course  to  make  this  experiment.  A 
few  passes  threw  Mr.  Vankirk  into  the  mesmeric  sleep. 
His  breathing  became  immediately  more  easy,  and  he 
seemed  to  suffer  no  physical  uneasiness.  The  following 
conversation  then  ensued — V.  in  the  dialogue  repre- 
senting the  patient,  and  P.  myself: 

P.  Are  you  asleep  ? 

V.  Yes — no ;  I  would  rather  sleep  more  soundly. 

P.  [  After  a  few  more  passes.']     Do  you  sleep  now  ? 

V.  Yes. 

P.  How  do  you  think  your  present  illness  will 
result? 

V-  [  After  a  long  hesitation  and  speaking  as  if  with 
effort^]  I  must  die. 

P.  Does  the  idea  of  death  afflict  you  ? 

V.  [  Very  quickly.']     No — no ! 

P.  Are  you  pleased  with  the  prospect  ? 

V.  If  I  were  awake  I  should  like  to  die,  but  now  it 
is  no  matter.  The  mesmeric  condition  is  so  near  death 
as  to  content  me. 

P.  I  wish  you  would  explain  yourself,  Mr.  Vankirk. 

V.  I  am  willing  to  do  so,  but  it  requires  more  effort 


MESMERIC  REVELATION.  191 

than  I  feel  able   to  make.     You  do  not  question  me 
properly. 

P.  What  then  shall  I  ask? 

V.  You  must  begin  at  the  beginning. 

P.  The  beginning !  but  where  is  the  beginning  ? 

F.  You  know  that  the  beginning  is  God.  [This  was 
said  in  a  low  fluctuating  tone,  and  with  every  sign  of  the 
most  profound  veneration.] 

P.  What,  then,  is  God? 

F.  [Hesitating  for  many  minutes.]     I  cannot  tell. 

P.  Is  not  God  spirit  ? 

F.  While  I  was  awake  I  knew  what  you  meant  by 
"  spirit,"  but  now  it  seems  only  a  word ;  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  truth,  beauty — a  quality,  I  mean. 

P.  Is  not  God  immaterial  ? 

F.  There  is  no  immateriality — it  is  a  mere  word. 
That  which  is  not  matter,  is  not  at  all — unless  qualities 
are  things. 

P.  Is  God,  then,  material  ? 

F.  No.     [This  reply  startled  me  very  much."] 

P.  What,  then,  is  He  ? 

F.  [After  a  long  pause,  and  mutteringly]  I  see — 
but  it  is  a  thing  difficult  to  tell.  [ Anot her  long  pause.] 
He  is  not  spirit,  for  He  exists.  Nor  is  He  matter,  OB 
you  understand  it.  But  there  are  gradations  of  matter 
of  which  man  knows  nothing;  the  grosser  impelling 
the  finer,  the  finer  pervading  the  grosser.  The  atmos- 
phere, for  example,  impels  the  electric  principle,  while 
the  electric  principle  permeates  the  atmosphere.  These 
gradations  of  matter  increase  in  rarity  or  fineness  until 
we  arrive  at  a  matter  unparticled — without  particles — 
indivisible — one;  and  here  the  law  of  impulsion  and'" 
permeation  is  modified.  The  ultimate  or  unparticled 
matter  not  only  permeates  all  things  but  impels  all 


192  MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

things — and  thus  is  all  things  within  itself.  This  matter 
is  God.  What  men  attempt  to  embody  in  the  word 
"  thought "  is  this  matter  in  motion. 

P.  The  metaphysicians  maintain  that  all  action  is 
reducible  to  motion  and  thinking  and  that  the  latter  is 
the  origin  of  the  former. 

F.  Yes ;  and  I  now  see  the  confusion  of  idea.  Mo- 
tion is  the  action  of  mind — not  of  thinking.  The 
unparticled  matter,  or  God,  in  quiescence,  is  (as  nearly 
as  we  can  conceive  it)  what  men  call  mind.  And  the 
power  of  self-movement  (equivalent  in  effect  to  human 
volition)  is,  in  the  unparticled  matter,  the  result  of  its 
unity  and  omniprevalence ;  how  I  know  not,  and  now 
clearly  see  that  I  shall  never  know.  But  the  unparti- 
cled matter,  set  in  motion  by  a  law,  or  quality,  existing 
within  itself,  is  thinking. 

P.  Can  you  give  me  no  more  precise  idea  of  what  you 
term  the  unparticled  matter? 

V.  The  matters  of  which  man  is  cognizant  escape  the 
senses  in  gradation.  We  have,  for  example,  a  metal, 
a  piece  of  wood,  a  drop  of  water,  the  atmosphere,  a  gas, 
caloric,  electricity,  the  luminiferous  ether.  Now  we 
call  all  these  things  matter,  and  embrace  all  matter  in 
one  general  definition ;  but  in  spite  of  this,  there  can 
be  no  two  ideas  more  essentially  distinct  than  that 
which  we  attach  to  a  metal,  and  that  which  we  attach 
to  the  luminiferous  ether.  When  we  reach  the  latter, 
we  feel  an  almost  irresistible  inclination  to  class  it  with 
spirit  or  with  nihility.  The  only  consideration  which 
restrains  us  is  our  conception  of  its  atomic  constitution ; 
and  here,  even,  we  have  to  seek  aid  from  our  notion  of 
an  atom,  as  something  possessing  an  infinite  minuteness, 
solidity,  palpability,  weight.  Destroy  the  idea  of  the 
atomic  constitution  and  we  should  no  longer  be  able  to 


MESMERIC  REVELATION.  193 

regard  the  ether  as  an  entity,  or  at  least  as  matter. 
For  want  of  a  better  word  we  might  term  it  spirit. 
Take,  now,  a  step  beyond  the  luminiferous  ether — con- 
ceive a  matter  as  much  more  rare  than  the  ether,  as 
this  ether  is  more  rare  than  the  metal,  and  we  arrive  at 
once  (in  spite  of  all  the  school  dogmas)  at  a  unique 
mass — an  unparticled  matter.  For  although  we  may 
admit  infinite  littleness  in  the  atoms  themselves,  the 
infinitude  of  littleness  in  the  spaces  between  them  is 
an  absurdity.  There  will  be  a  point — there  will  be  a 
degree  of  rarity,  at  which,  if  the  atoms  are  sufficiently 
numerous,  the  interspaces  must  vanish,  and  the  mass 
absolutely  coalesce.  But  the  consideration  of  the 
atomic  constitution  being  now  taken  away,  the  nature 
of  the  mass  inevitably  glides  into  what  we  conceive  of 
spirit.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  it  is  as  fully  matter  as 
before.  The  truth  is,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  spirit, 
since  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  what  is  not.  When  we 
flatter  ourselves  that  we  have  formed  its  conception,  we 
have  merely  deceived  our  understanding  by  the  con- 
sideration of  infinitely  rarefied  matter. 

P.  There  seems  to  me  an  insurmountable  objection 
to  the  idea  of  absolute  coalescence ;  and  that  is  the 
very  slight  resistance  experienced  by  the  heavenly  bodies 
in  their  revolutions  through  space — a  resistance  now 
ascertained,  it  is  true,  to  exist  in  some  degree,  but  which 
is,  nevertheless,  so  slight  as  to  have  been  quite  over- 
looked by  the  sagacity  even  of  Newton.  We  know 
that  the  resistance  of  bodies  is  chiefly  in  proportion  to 
their  density.  Absolute  coalescence  is  absolute  density. 
Where  there  are  no  interspaces  there  can  be  no  yield- 
ing.  An  ether  absolutely  dense  would  put  &n  infinitely 
more  effectual  stop  to  the  progress  of  a  star  than  would 
an  ether  of  adamant  or  of  iron. 

Vol.  I.— 13. 


194  MESMEEIC  REVELATION. 

P.  Your  objection  is  answered  with  an  ease  which 
is  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  its  apparent  unanswerability. — 
As  regards  the  progress  of  the  star,  it  can  make  no 
difference  whether  the  star  passes  through  the  ether  or 
the  ether  through  it.  There  is  no  astronomical  error 
more  unaccountable  than  that  which  reconciles  the 
known  retardation  of  the  comets  with  the  idea  of  their 
passage  through  an  ether :  for,  however  rare  this  ether 
be  supposed,  it  would  put  a  stop  to  all  sidereal  revolu- 
tion in  a  very  far  briefer  period  than  has  been  admitted 
by  those  astronomers  who  have  endeavored  to  slur  over 
a  point  which  they  found  it  impossible  to  comprehend. 
The  retardation  actually  experienced  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  about  that  which  might  be  expected  from  the 
friction  of  the  ether  in  the  instantaneous  passage  through 
the  orb.  In  the  one  case,  the  retarding  force  is  momen- 
tary and  complete  within  itself — in  the  other  it  is  end- 
lessly accumulative. 

P.  But  in  all  this — in  this  identification  of  mere 
matter  with  God — is  there  nothing  of  irreverence !  [ J 
was  forced  to  repeat  this  question  before  the  sleep-waker 
fully  comprehended  my  meaning.'] 

V.  Can  you  say  why  matter  should  be  less  reverenced 
than  mind  ?  But  you  forget  that  the  matter  of  which  I 
speak  is  in  all  respects  the  very  "  mind  "  or  "  spirit "  of 
the  schools,  so  far  as  regards  its  high  capacities,  and  is, 
moreover,  the  "  matter "  of  these  schools  at  the  same 
time.  God,  with  all  the  powers  attributed  to  spirit,  is 
but  the  perfection  of  matter. 

P.  You  assert,  then,  that  the  unparticled  matter  in 
motion  is  thought  ? 

F.  In  general  this  motion  is  the  universal  thought  of 
the  universal  mind.  This  thought  creates.  All  created 
things  are  but  the  thoughts  of  God. 


MESMERIC  REVELATION.  195 

P.  You  say,  "  in  general." 

F.  Yes.  The  universal  mind  is  God.  For  new  in- 
dividualities matter  is  necessary. 

P.  But  you  now  speak  of  "mind"  and  "matter"  as 
do  the  metaphysicians. 

V.  Yes — to  avoid  confusion.  When  I  say  "  mind," 
I  mean  the  unparticled  or  ultimate  matter ;  by  "matter," 
I  intend  all  else. 

P.  You  were  saying  that  "for  new  individualities 
matter  is  necessary." 

F  Yes;  for  mind  existing  unincorporate  is  merely 
God.  To  create  individual  thinking  beings  it  was  neces- 
sary to  incarnate  portions  of  the  divine  mind.  Thus  man 
is  individualized.  Divested  of  corporate  investiture,  he 
were  God.  Now,  the  particular  motion  of  the  incarnated 
portions  of  the  unparticled  matter  is  the  thought  of  man, 
as  the  motion  of  the  whole  is  that  of  God. 

P.  You  say  that  divested  of  the  body  man  will  be 
God? 

F.  [After  much  hesitation^  I  could  not  have  said 
this ;  it  is  an  absurdity. 

P.  [Referring  to  my  notes."]  You  did  say  that  "  di- 
vested of  corporate  investiture  man  were  God." 

F.  And  this  is  true.  Man  thus  divested  would  be  God 
— would  be  unindividualized.  But  he  can  never  be 
thus  divested — at  least  never  will  be — else  we  must 
imagine  an  action  of  God  returning  upon  itself — a  pur- 
poseless and  futile  action.  Man  is  a  creature.  Crea- 
tures are  thoughts  of  God.  It  is  the  nature  of  thought 
to  be  irrevocable. 

P.  I  do  not  comprehend.  You  say  that  man  will, 
never  put  off  the  body  ? 

F.  I  say  that  he  will  never  be  bodiless. 

P.  Explain. 


196  MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

V.  There  are  two  bodies — the  rudimental  and  the 
complete ;  corresponding  with  the  two  conditions  of  the 
worm  and  the  butterfly.  What  we  call  "  death  "  is  but 
the  painful  metamorphosis.  Our  present  incarnation  is 
progressive,  preparatory,  temporary.  Our  future  is 
perfected,  ultimate,  immortal.  The  ultimate  life  is  the 
full  design. 

P.  But  of  the  worm's  metamorphosis  we  are  palpably 
cognizant. 

V.  We,  certainly — but  not  the  worm.  The  matter  of 
which  our  rudimental  body  is  composed  is  within  the 
ken  of  the  organs  of  that  body ;  or,  more  distinctly,  our 
rudimental  organs  are  adapted  to  the  matter  of  which  is 
formed  the  rudimental  body,  but  not  to  that  of  which 
the  ultimate  is  composed.  The  ultimate  body  thus 
escapes  our  rudimental  senses,  and  we  perceive  only  the 
shell  which  falls  in  decaying  from  the  inner  form,  not 
that  inner  form  itself;  but  this  inner  form,  as  well  as 
the  shell,  is  appreciable  by  those  who  have  already 
acquired  the  ultimate  life. 

P.  You  have  often  said  that  the  mesmeric  state  very 
nearly  resembles  death.  How  is  this  ? 

V.  When  I  say  that  it  resembles  death,  I  mean  that 
it  resembles  the  ultimate  life ;  for  when  I  am  entranced 
the  senses  of  my  rudimental  life  are  in  abeyance,  and 
I  perceive  external  things  directly,  without  organs, 
through  a  medium  which  I  shall  employ  in  the  ultimate, 
unorganized  life. 

P.  Unorganized? 

V.  Yes ;  organs  are  contrivances  by  which  the  indi- 
vidual is  brought  into  sensible  relation  with  particular 
classes  and  forms  of  matter  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
classes  and  forms.  The  organs  of  man  are  adapted  to  his 
rudimental  condition,  and  to  that  only;  his  ultimate 


MESMERIC  REVELATION.  197 

condition,  being  unorganized,  is  of  unlimited  comprehen- 
sion in  all  points  but  one — the  nature  of  the  volition  of 
God — that  is  to  say,  the  motion  of  the.  unparticled 
matter.  You  will  have  a  distinct  idea  of  the  ultimate 
body  by  conceiving  it  to  be  entire  brain.  This  it  is 
not ;  but  a  conception  of  this  nature  will  bring  you  near 
a  comprehension  of  what  it  is.  A  luminous  body  im- 
parts vibration  to  the  luminiferous  ether.  The  vibra- 
tions generate  similar  ones  within  the  retina ;  these  again 
communicate  similar  ones  to  the  optic  nerve.  The  nerve 
conveys  similar  ones  to  the  brain ;  the  brain,  also,  simi- 
lar ones  to  the  unparticled  matter  which  permeates  it. 
The  motion  of  this  latter  is  thought,  of  which  perception 
is  the  first  undulation.  This  is  the  mode  by  which  the 
mind  of  the  rudimental  life  communicates  with  the  ex- 
ternal world ;  and  this  external  world  is,  to  the  rudi- 
mental life  limited  through  the  idiosyncrasy  of  its  organs. 
But  in  the  ultimate  unorganized  life  the  external  world 
reaches  the  whole  body  (which  is  of  a  substance  having 
affinity  to  brain,  as  I  have  said),  with  no  other  interven- 
tion than  that  of  an  infinitely  rarer  ether  than  even  the 
luminiferous ;  and  to  this  ether — in  unison  with  it — the 
whole  body  vibrates,  setting  in  motion  the  unparticled 
matter  which  permeates  it.  It  is  to  the  absence  of 
idiosyncratic  organs,  therefore,  that  we  must  attribute 
the  nearly  unlimited  perception  of  the  ultimate  life. 
To  rudimental  beings,  organs  are  the  cages  necessary  to 
confine  them  until  fledged. 

P.  You  speak  of  rudimental  "beings."  Are  there 
other  rudimental  thinking  beings  than  man  ? 

F.  The  multitudinous  conglomeration  of  rare  matter 
into  nebulae,  planets,  suns,  and  other  bodies  which  are 
neither  nebulae,  suns  nor  planets,  is  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  supplying  pabulum  for  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  organs 


198  MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

of  an  infinity  of  rudimental  beings.  But  for  the  neces- 
sity of  the  rudimental,  prior  to  the  ultimate  life,  there 
would  have  been  no  bodies  such  as  these.  Each  of 
these  is  tenanted  by  a  distinct  variety  of  organic, 
rudimental  thinking  creatures.  In  all,  the  organs 
vary  with  the  features  of  the  place  tenanted.  At 
death,  or  metamorphosis,  these  creatures,  enjoying  the 
ultimate  life — immortality — and  cognizant  of  all  secrets 
but  the  one,  act  all  things  and  pass  everywhere  by  mere 
volitioa : — indwelling,  not  the  stars,  which  to  us  seem  the 
sole  palpabilities,  and  for  the  accommodation  of  which 
we  blindly  deem  space  created — but  that  SPACE  itself — 
that  infinity  of  which  the  truly  substantive  vastness 
swallows  up  the  star-shadows — blotting  them  out  as 
nonentities  from  the  perception  of  the  angel. 

P.  You  say  that  "  but  for  the  necessity  of  the  rudi- 
mental life  "  there  would  have  been  no  stars.  But  why 
this  necessity  ? 

F.  In  the  inorganic  life,  as  well  as  in  the  inorganic 
matter  generally,  there  is  nothing  to  impede  the  action 
of  one  simple  unique  law — the  Divine  volition.  With 
the  view  of  producing  impediment,  the  organic  life  and 
matter  (complex,  substantial,  and  .  law-encumbered), 
were  contrived. 

P.  But  again — why  need  this  impediment  have  been 
produced  ? 

V.  The  result  of  law  inviolate  is  perfection — right 
— negative  happiness.  The  result  of  law  violate  is 
imperfection,  wrong,  positive  pain.  Through  the  im- 
pediments afforded  by  the  number,  complexity,  and 
substantiality  of  the  laws  of  organic  life  and  matter, 
the  violation  of  law  is  rendered  to  a  certain  extent 
practicable.  Thus  pain,  which  in  the  inorganic  life  is 
impossible,  is  possible  in  the  organic. 


MESMERIC  REVELATION.  199 

P.  But  to  what  good  end  is  pain  thus  rendered 
possible  ? 

F  All  things  are  either  good  or  bad  by  comparison. 
A  sufficient  analysis  will  show  that  pleasure,  in  all 
cases,  is  but  the  contrast  of  pain.  Positive  pleasure  is 
a  mere  idea.  To  be  happy  at  any  one  point  we  must 
have  suffered  at  the  same.  Never  to  suffer  would 
have  been  never  to  have  been  blessed.  But  it  has  been 
shown  that  in  the  inorganic  life  pain  cannot  be,  thus 
the  necessity  for  the  organic.  The  pain  of  the  primi- 
tive life  of  Earth  is  the  sole  basis  of  the  bliss  of  the 
ultimate  life  in  Heaven. 

P.  Still  there  is  one  of  your  expressions  which  I  find 
it  impossible  to  comprehend — "  the  truly  substantive 
vastness  of  infinity." 

F.  This,  probably,  is  because  you  have  no  sufficiently 
generic  conception  of  the  term  "  substance  "  itself.  We 
must  not  regard  it  as  a  quality  but  as  a  sentiment ; 
it  is  the  perception,  in  thinking  beings,  of  the  adapta- 
tion of  matter  to  their  organization.  There  are  many 
things  on  the  Earth,  which  would  be  nihility  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Venus — many  things  visible  and  tangible 
in  Venus  which  we  could  not  be  brought  to  appreciate 
as  existing  at  all.  But  to  the  inorganic  beings — to 
the  angels — the  whole  of  the  unparticled  matter  is  sub- 
stance ;  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  of  what  we  term 
"  space  "  is  to  them  the  truest  substantiality ; — the  stars, 
meantime,  through  what  we  consider  their  materiality, 
escaping  the  angelic  sense,  just  in  proportion  as  the 
unparticled  matter  through  what  we  consider  its  imma- 
teriality eludes  the  organic. 

As  the  sleep-waker  pronounced  these  latter  words  in 
a  feeble  tone,  I  observed  on  his  countenance  a  singular 
expression,  which  somewhat  alarmed  me,  and  induced 


200  MESMERIC  REVELATION. 

me  to  awake  him  at  once.  No  sooner  had  I  done  this, 
than,  with  a  bright  smile  irradiating  all  his  features,  he 
fell  back  upon  his  pillow  and  expired.  I  noticed  that 
in  less  than  a  minute  afterward  his  corpse  had  all  the 
stern  rigidity  of  stone.  His  brow  was  of  the  coldness 
of  ice.  Thus,  ordinarily,  should  it  have  appeared  only 
after  long  pressure  from  Azrael's  hand.  Had  the  sleep- 
waker,  indeed,  during  the  latter  portion  of  his  discourse, 
been  addressing  me  from  out  the  region  of  the  shadows? 


1    CASH   OFM.VALDEMAR 


THE  FACTS  IN  THE  CASE  OF 
M.  VALDEMAK. 

Of  course  I  shall  not  pretend  to  consider  it  any  matter 
for  wonder  that  the  extraordinary  case  of  M.  Valdemar 
has  excited  discussion.  It  would  have  been  a  miracle  had 
it  not — especially  under  the  circumstances.  Through 
the  desire  of  all  parties  concerned  to  keep  the  affair 
from  the  public,  at  least  for  the  present,  or  until  we  had 
further  opportunities  for  investigation — through  our 
endeavors  to  effect  this — a  garbled  or  exaggerated 
account  made  its  way  into  society  ,and  became  the 
source  of  many  unpleasant  misrepresentations ;  and, 
very  naturally,  of  a  great  deal  of  disbelief. 

It  is  now  rendered  necessary  that  I  give  the  fads — 
as  far  as  I  comprehend  them  myself. ,  They  are,  suc- 
cinctly, these : 

My  attention  for  the  last  three  years  had  been  re- 
peatedly drawn  to  the  subject  of  Mesmerism ;  and 
about  nine  months  ago  it  occurred  to  me,  quite  suddenly, 
that  in  the  series  of  experiments  made  hitherto  there 
had  been  a  very  remarkable  and  most  unaccountable 
omission : — no  person  had  as  yet  been  mesmerized  in 
articulo  mortis.  It  remained  to  be  seen,  first,  whether, 
in  such  condition,  there  existed  in  the  patient  any 
susceptibility  to  the  magnetic  influence ;  secondly, 
whether,  if  any  existed,  it  was  impaired  or  increased 
by  the  condition ;  thirdly,  to  what  extent,  or  for  how 
long  a  period,  the  encroachments  of  Death  might  be 
(201) 


202  THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR. 

arrested  by  the  process.  There  were  other  points  to  be 
ascertained,  but  these  most  excited  my  curiosity — the 
last  in  especial,  from  the  immensely  important  character 
of  its  consequences. 

In  looking  around  me  for  some  subject  by  whose 
means  I  might  test  these  particulars,  I  was  brought  to 
think  of  my  friend,  M.  Ernest  Valdemar,  the  well- 
known  compiler  of  the  "  Bibliotheca  Forensica,"  and 
author  (under  the  nom  de  plume  of  Issachar  Marx)  of 
the  Polish  versions  of  "  Wallenstein  "  and  "  Gargantua." 
M.  Valdemar,  who  has  resided  principally  at  Harlem, 
N.  Y.,  since  the  year  1839,  is  (or  was)  particularly 
noticeable  for  the  extreme  spareness  of  his  person — his 
lower  limbs  much  resembling  those  of  John  Randolph ; 
and  also  for  the  whiteness  of  his  whiskers,  in  violent 
contrast  to  the  blackness  of  his  hair — the  latter,  in 
consequence,  being  very  generally  mistaken  for  a  wig. 
His  temperament  was  markedly  nervous,  and  rendered 
him  a  good  subject  for  mesmeric  experiment.  On  two 
or  three  occasions  I  had  put  him  to  sleep  with  little 
difficulty,  but  was  disappointed  in  other  results  which 
his  peculiar  constitution  had  naturally  led  me  to  antici- 
pate. His  will  was  at  no  period  positively  or  thor- 
oughly under  my  control,  and  in  regard  to  clairvoyance, 
I  could  accomplish  with  him  nothing  to  be  relied 
upon.  I  always  attributed  my  failure  at  these  points 
to  the  disordered  state  of  his  health.  For  some  months 
previous  to  my  becoming  acquainted  with  him  his 
physicians  had  declared  him  in  a  confirmed  phthisis. 
It  was  his  custom,  indeed,  to  speak  calmly  of  his  ap- 
proaching dissolution  as  of  a  matter  neither  to  be 
avoided  nor  regretted. 

"When  the  ideas  to  which  I  have  alluded  first  occurred 
to  me,  it  was  of  course  very  natural  that  I  should  think 


THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR.  203 

of  M.  Valdemar.  I  knew  the  steady  philosophy  of 
the  man  too  well  to  apprehend  any  scruples  from  him; 
and  he  had  no  relatives  in  America  who  would  be 
likely  to  interfere.  I  spoke  to  him  frankly  upon  the 
subject,  and  to  my  surprise  his  interest  seemed  vividly 
excited.  I  say  to  my  surprise;  for,  although  he  had 
always  yielded  his  person  freely  to  my  experiments,  he 
had  never  before  given  me  any  tokens  of  sympathy 
with  what  I  did.  His  disease  was  of  that  character 
which  would  admit  of  exact  calculation  in  respect  to 
the  epoch  of  its  termination  in  death ;  and  it  was 
finally  arranged  between  us  that  he  would  send  for  me 
about  twenty-four  hours  before  the  period  announced 
by  his  physicians  as  that  of  his  decease. 

It  is  now  rather  more  than  seven  months  since  I  re- 
ceived, from  M.  Valdemar  himself,  the  subjoined  note: 

"  MY  DEAR  P , — 

"  You  may  as  well  come  now.    D and 

F are  agreed  that  I  cannot  hold  out  beyond  to- 
morrow midnight ;  and  I  think  they  have  hit  the  time 
very  nearly. 

"  VALDEMAR." 

I  received  this  note  within  half  an  hour  after  it  was 
written,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  more  I  was  in  the  dying 
man's  chamber.  I  had  not  seen  him  for  ten  days,  and 
was  appalled  by  the  fearful  alteration  which  the  brief 
interval  had  wrought  in  him.  His  face  wore  a  leaden 
hue  ;  the  eyes  were  utterly  lustreless ;  and  the  emaciation 
was  so  extreme  that  the  skin  had  been  broken  through 
by  the  cheek  bones.  His  expectoration  was  exces- 
sive. The  pulse  was  barely  perceptible.  He  retained, 


204  THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR. 

nevertheless,  in  a  very  remarkable  manner,  both  his 
mental  power  and  a  certain  degree  of  physical  strength. 
He  spoke  with  distinctness — took  some  palliative  medi- 
cines without  aid — and,  when  I  entered  the  room,  was 
occupied  in  penciling  memoranda  in  a  pocketbook. 
He  was  propped  up  in  the  bed  by  pillows.  Doctors 
D and  F were  in  attendance. 

After  pressing  Valdemar's  hand,  I  took  these  gentle- 
men aside,  and  obtained  from  them  a  minute  account 
of  the  patient's  condition.  The  left  lung  had  been  for 
eighteen  months  in  a  semi-osseous  or  cartilaginous 
state,  and  was  of  course  entirely1  useless  for  all  purposes 
of  vitality.  The  right  in  its  upper  portion,  was  also 
partially  if  not  thoroughly  ossified,  while  the  lower 
region  was  merely  a  mass  of  purulent  tubercles  run- 
ning one  into  another.  Several  extensive  perforations 
existed,  and  at  one  point  permanent  adhesion  to  the 
ribs  had  taken  place.  These  appearances  in  the  right 
lobe  were  of  comparatively  recent  date.  The  ossifica- 
tion had  proceeded  with  very  unusual  rapidity;  no 
sign  of  it  had  been  discovered  a  month  before,  and  the 
adhesion  had  only  been  observed  during  the  three  pre- 
vious days.  Independently  of  the  phthisis,  the  patient 
was  suspected  of  aneurism  of  the  aorta ;  but  on  this 
point  the  osseous  symptoms  rendered  an  exact  diagnosis 
impossible.  It  was  the  opinion  of  both  physicians  that 
M.  Valdemar  would  die  about  midnight  on  the  morrow 
(Sunday).  It  was  then  seven  o'clock  on  Saturday 
evening. 

On  quitting  the  invalid's  bedside  to  hold  conversa- 
tion with  myself,  Doctors  D — —  and  F had  bidden 

him  a  final  farewell.  It  had  not  been  their  intention  to 
return ;  but,  at  my  request,  they  agreed  to  look  in  upon 
the  patient  about  ten  the  next  night. 


THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR.  205 

When  they  had  gone,  I  spoke  freely  with  M.  Valde- 
mar  on  the  subject  of  his  approaching  dissolution,  as 
well  as,  more  particularly,  of  the  experiment  proposed. 
He  still  professed  himself  quite  willing  and  even  anxious 
to  have  it  made,  and  urged  me  to  commence  it  at  once. 
A  male  and  a  female  nurse  were  in  attendance ;  but  I 
did  not  feel  myself  altogether  at  liberty  to  engage  in  a 
task  of  this  character  with  no  more 'reliable  witnesses 
than  these  people,  in  case  of  sudden  accident,  might 
prove.  I  therefore  postponed  operations  until  about 
eight  the  next  night,  when  the  arrival  of  a  medical 
student,  with  whom  I  had  some  acquaintance  (Mr. 
Theodore  L 1),  relieved  me  from  farther  embarrass- 
ment. It  had  been  my  design,  originally,  to  wait  for 
the  physicians ;  but  I  was  induced  to  proceed,  first,  by 
the  urgent  entreaties  of  M.  Valdemar,  and  secondly, 
by  my  conviction  that  I  had  not  a  moment  to  lose,  as 
he  was  evidently  sinking  fast. 

Mr.  L 1  was  so  kind  as  to  accede  to  my  desire  that 

he  would  take  notes  of  all  that  occurred ;  and  it  is  from 
his  memoranda  that  what  I  now  have  to  relate  is,  for 
the  most  part,  either  condensed  or  copied  verbatim. 

It  wanted  about  five  minutes  of  eight  when,  taking 
the  patient's  hand,  I  begged  him  to  state,  as  distinctly 

as  he  could,  to  Mr.  L 1,  whether  he  (M.  Valdemar) 

was  entirely  willing  that  I  should  make  the  experiment 
of  mesmerizing  him  in  his  then  condition. 

He  replied  feebly,  yet  quite  audibly,  "  Yes,  I  wish  to 
be  mesmerized  " — adding  immediately  afterwards, ;  "•  I 
fear  you  have  deferred  it  too  long." 

While  he  spoke  thus,  I  commenced  the  passes  which 
I  had  already  found  most  effectual  in  subduing  him. 
He  was  evidently  influenced  with  the  first  lateral  stroke 
of  my  hand  across  his  forehead,  but  although  I  exerted 


206  THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAB. 

all  my  powers,  no  farther  perceptible  effect  was  induced 
until  some  minutes  after  ten  o'clock,  when  Doctors 

D and  F called,  according  to  appointment. 

I  explained  to  them  in  a  few  words  what  I  designed,  and 
as  they  opposed  no  objection,  saying  that  the  patient  was 
already  in  the  death  agony,  I  proceeded  without  hesi- 
tation— exchanging,  however,  the  lateral  passes  for 
downward  ones,  and  directing  my  gaze  entirely  into  the 
right  eye  of  the  sufferer. 

By  this  time  his  pulse  was  imperceptible  and  his 
breathing  was  stertorous,  and  at  intervals  of  half  a 
minute. 

This  condition  was  nearly  unaltered  for  a  quarter  of 
an.  hour.  At  the  expiration  of  this  period,  however,  a 
natural  although  a  very  deep  sigh  escaped  the  bosom 
of  the  dying  man,  and  the  stertorous  breathing  ceased 
— that  is  to  say,  its  stertorousness  was  no  longer  ap- 
parent ;  the  intervals  were  undiminished.  The  patient's 
extremities  were  of  an  icy  coldness. 

At  five  minutes  before  eleven  I  perceived  unequivocal 
signs  of  the  mesmeric  influence.  The  glassy  roll  of  the 
eye  was  changed  for  that  expression  of  uneasy  inward 
examination  which  is  never  seen  except  in  cases  of  sleep- 
waking,  and  which  it  is  quite  impossible  to  mistake. 
With  a  few  rapid  lateral  passes  I  made  the  lids  quiver, 
as  in  incipient  sleep,  and  with  a  few  more  I  closed 
them  altogether.  I  was  not  satisfied,  however,  with  this, 
but  continued  the  manipulations  vigorously,  and  with 
the  fullest  exertion  of  the  will,  until  I  had  completely 
stiffened  the  limbs  of  the  slumberer,  after  placing  them 
in  a  seemingly  easy  position.  The  legs  were  at  full 
length;  the  arms  were  nearly  so,  and  reposed  on  the 
bed  at  a  moderate  distance  from  the  loins.  The  head 
was  very  slightly  elevated. 


THE  CASE  OF  H.  7ALDEMAE.  207 

"When  I  had  accomplished  this  it  was  fully  midnight, 
and  I  requested  the  gentlemen  present  to  examine  M. 
Valdemar's  condition.  After  a  few  experiments,  they 
admitted  him  to  be  in  an  unusually  perfect  state  of 
mesmeric  trance.  The  curiosity  of  both  the  physicians 

was  greatly  excited.  Dr.  D resolved  at  once  to 

remain  with  the  patient  all  night,  while  Dr.  F 

took  leave  with  a  promise  to  return  at  daybreak.  Mr. 
L 1  and  the  nurses  remained. 

We  left  M.  Valdemar  entirely  undisturbed  until 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  I  approached 
him  and  found  him  in  precisely  the  same  condition  as 

when  Dr.  F went  away — that  is  to  say,  he  lay 

in  the  same  position ;  the  pulse  was  imperceptible  ;  the 
breathing  was  gentle  (scarcely  noticeable,  unless  through 
the  application  of  a  mirror  to  the  lips) ;  the  eyes  were 
closed  naturally ;  and  the  limbs  were  as  rigid  and  as 
cold  as  marble.  Still,  the  general  appearance  was  cer- 
tainly not  that  of  death. 

As  I  approached  M.  Valdemar  I  made  a  kind  of 
half  effort  to  influence  his  right  arm  into  pursuit  of  my 
own,  as  I  passed  the  latter  gently  to  and  fro  above  his 
person.  In  such  experiments  with  this  patient,  I  had 
never  perfectly  succeeded  before,  and  assuredly  I  had 
little  thought  of  succeeding  now ;  but,  to  my  astonish- 
ment, his  arm  very  readily,  although  feebly,  followed 
every  direction  I  assigned  it  with  mine.  I  determined 
to  hazard  a  few  words  of  conversation. 

"M.  Valdemar,"  I  said,  "  are  you  asleep ?  "  He  made 
no  answer,  but  I  perceived  a  tremor  about  the  lips,  and 
was  thus  induced  to  repeat  the  question,  again  and 
again.  At  this  third  repetition,  his  whole  frame  was 
agitated  by  a  very  slight  shivering :  the  eyelids  unclosed 
themselves  so  far  as  to  display  a  white  line  of  a  ball ;  the 


208  THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR. 

lips  moved  sluggishly,  and  from  between  them,  in  a 
barely  audible  whisper,  issued  the  words : 

"Yes;— asleep  now.  Do  not  awake  me! — let  me 
die  so ! " 

I  here  felt  the  limbs,  and  found  them  as  rigid  as  ever. 
The  right  arm,  as  before,,  obeyed  the  direction  of  my 
hand.  I  questioned  the  sleep-waker  again : 

"  Do  you  still  feel  pain  in  the  breast,  M.  Valdemar  ?  " 

The  answer  now  was  immediate,  but  even  less  audible 
than  before : 

"  No  pain — I  am  dying." 

I  did  not  think  it  advisable  to  disturb  him  farther 
just  then,  and  nothing  more  was  said  or  done  until  the 

arrival  of  Dr.  F ,  who  came  a  little  before  sunrise, 

and  expressed  unbounded  astonishment  at  finding  the 
patient  still  alive.  After  feeling  the  pulse  and  applying 
a  mirror  to  the  lips,  he  requested  me  to  speak  to  the 
sleep-waker  again.  J  did  so,  saying : 

"  M.  Valdemar,  do  you  still  sleep  ?  " 

As  before,  some  minutes  elapsed  ere  a  reply  was 
made ;  and  during  the  interval  the  dying  man  seemed 
to  be  collecting  his  energies  to  speak.  At  my  fourth 
repetition  of  the  question,  he  said  very  faintly,  almost 
inaudibly : 

"  Yes ;  still  asleep— dying." 

It  was  now  the  opinion,  or  rather  the  wish,  of  the 
physicians,  that  M.  Valdemar  should  be  suffered  to 
remain  undisturbed  in  his  present  apparently  tranquil 
condition,  until  death  should  supervene ;  and  this,  it 
was  generally  agreed,  must  now  take  place  within  a 
few  minutes.  .  I  concluded,  however,  to.  speak  to  him 
once  more,  and  merely  repeated  my  previous  question. 

While  I  spoke,  there  came  a  marked  change  over 
the  countenance  of  the  sleep-waker.  The  eyes  rolled 


THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR.  209 

themselves  slowly  open,  the  pupils  disappearing  upwardly ; 
the  skin  generally  assumed  a  cadaverous  hue,  resembling 
not  so  much  parchment  as  white  paper :  and  the  circu- 
lar hectic  spots,  which  hitherto  had  been  strongly 
defined  in  the  centre  of  each  cheek,  went  out  at  once. 
I  use  this  expression,  because  the  suddenness  of  their 
departure  put  me  in  mind  of  nothing  so  much  as  the 
extinguishment  of  a  candle  by  a  puff  of  the  breath. 
The  upper  lip,  at  the  same  time,  writhed  itself  away 
from  the  teeth,  which  it  had  previously  covered  com- 
pletely ;  while  the  lower  jaw  fell  with  an  audible  jerk, 
leaving  the  mouth  widely  extended,  and  disclosing  in 
full  view  the  swollen  and  blackened  tongue.  I  presume 
that  no  member  of  the  party  then  present  had  been 
unaccustomed  to  death-bed  horrors;  but  so  hideous 
beyond  conception  was  the  appearance  of  M.  Valdemar 
at  this  moment,  that  there  was  a  general  shrinking  back 
from  the  region  of  the  bed. 

I  now  feel  that  I  have  reached  a  point  of  this 
narrative  at  which  every  reader  will  be  startled  into 
positive  disbelief.  It  is  my  business,  however,  simply  to 
proceed. 

There  was  no  longer  the  faintest  sign  of  vitality  in 
M.  Valdemar;  and,  concluding  him  to  be  dead,  we 
were  consigning  him  to  the  charge  of  the  nurses, 
when  a  strong  vibratory  motion  was  observable  in  the 
tongue.  This  continued  for  perhaps  a  minute.  At 
the  expiration  of  this  period,  there  issued  from  the  dis- 
tended and  motionless  jaws  a  voice — such  as  it  would 
be  madness  in  me  to  attempt  describing.  There  are, 
indeed,  two  or  three  epithets  which  might  be  con- 
sidered as  applicable  to  it  in  part ;  I  might  say,  for 
example,  that  the  sound  was  harsh,  and  broken  and 
hollow ;  but  the  hideous  whole  is  indescribable,  for  the 
Vol.  L— 14. 


210  THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAE. 

simple  reason  that  no  similar  sounds  have  ever  jarred 
upon  the  ear  of  humanity.  There  were  two  particulars, 
nevertheless,  which  I  thought  then,  and  still  think, 
might  fairly  be  stated  as  characteristic  of  the  intona- 
tion— as  well  adapted  to  convey  some  idea  of  its  un- 
earthly peculiarity.  In  the  first  place,  the  voice  seemed 
to  reach  our  ears — at  least  mine — from  a  vast  distance, 
or  from  some  deep  cavern  within  the  earth.  In  the 
second  place,  it  impressed  me  (I  fear,  indeed,  that  it  will 
be  impossible  to  make  myself  comprehended)  as  gelat- 
inous or  glutinous  matters  impress  the  sense  of  touch. 

I  have  spoken  both  of  "  sound  "  and  of  "  voice."  I 
mean  to  say  that  the  sound  was  one  of  distinct — of 
even  wonderfully  thrillingly  distinct  syllabification. 
M.  Valdemar  spoke— obviously  in  reply  to  the  question 
I  had  propounded  to  him  a  few  minutes  before.  I  had 
asked  him,  it  will  be  remembered,  if  he  still  slept.  He 
now  said : 

"  Yes ; — no ; — I  have  been  sleeping — and  now — now  J 
am  dead." 

No  person  present  even  affected  to  deny  or  attempted 
to  repress  the  unutterable,  shuddering  horror  which 
these  few  words,  thus  uttered,  were  so  well  calculated  to 

convey.  Mr.  L 1  (the  student)  swooned.  The  nurses 

immediately  left  the  chamber,  and  could  not  be  induced 
to  return.  My  own  impressions  I  would  not  pretend  to 
render  intelligible  to  the  reader.  For  nearly  an  hour 
we  busied  ourselves,  silently — without  the  utterance  of 

a  word — in  endeavors  to  revive  Mr.  L 1.  When  he 

came  to  himself  we  addressed  ourselves  again  to  an 
investigation  of  M.  Valdemar's  condition. 

It  remained  in  all  respects  as  I  have  last  described  it 
with  the  exception  that  the  mirror  no  longer  afforded 
evidence  of  respiration.  An  attempt  to  draw  blood 


THE  CASE  OF  M.  VALDEMAE.  211 

from  the  arm  failed.  I  should  mention,  too,  that  this 
limb  was  no  farther  subject  to  my  will.  I  endeavored 
in  vain  to  make  it  follow  the  direction  of  my  hand. 
The  only  real  indication,  indeed,  of  the  mesmeric  influ- 
ence was  now  found  in  the  vibratory  movement  of  the 
tongue,  whenever  I  addressed  M.  Valdemar  a  question. 
He  seemed  to  be  making  an  effort  to  reply,  but  had  no 
longer  sufficient  volition.  To  queries  put  to  him  by  any 
other  person  than  myself  he  seemed  utterly  insensible — 
although  I  endeavored  to  place  each  member  of  the 
company  in  mesmeric  rapport  with  him.  I  believe  that 
I  have  now  related  all  that  is  necessary  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  sleep-waker's  state  at  this  epoch.  Other 
nurses  were  procured;  and  at  ten  o'clock  I  left  the 
house  in  company  with  the  two  physicians  and  Mr. 

In  the  afternoon  we  all  called  again  to  see  the  patient. 
His  condition  remained  precisely  the  same.  We  had 
now  some  discussion  as  to  the  propriety  and  feasibility 
of  awakening  him  ;  but  we  had  little  difficulty  in  agree- 
ing that  no  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  so  doing. 
It  was  evident  that,  so  far,  death  (or  what  is  usually 
termed  death)  had  been  arrested  by  the  mesmeric  pro- 
cess. It  seemed  clear  to  us  all  that  to  awaken  M.  Val- 
demar would  be  merely  to  insure  his  instant,  or  at  least 
his  speedy  dissolution. 

From  this  period  until  the  close  of  last  week — an 
interval  of  nearly  seven  months — we  continued  to  make 
daily  calls  at  M.  Valdemar's  house,  accompanied  now 
and  then  by  medical  and  other  friends.  All  this  time 
the  sleep-waker  remained  exactly  as  I  have  last  described 
him.  The  nurses'  attentions  were  continual. 

It  was  on  Friday  last  that  we  finally  resolved  to 
make  the  experiment  of  awakening,  or  attempting  to 


212  THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR. 

awaken  him ;  and  it  is  the  (perhaps)  unfortunate  result 
of  this  latter  experiment  which  has  given  rise  to  so 
much  discussion  in  private  circles — to  so  much  of  what 
I  cannot  help  thinking  unwarranted  popular  feeling. 

For  the  purpose  of  relieving  M.  Valdemar  from  the 
mesmeric  trance  I  made  use  of  the  customary  passes. 
These  for  a  time  were  unsuccessful.  The  first  indication 
of  revival  was  afforded  by  a  partial  descent  of  the  iris. 
It  was  observed,  as  especially  remarkable,  that  this 
lowering  of  the  pupil  was  accompanied  by  the  profuse 
outflowing  of  a  yellowish  ichor  (from  beneath  the  lids) 
of  a  pungent  and  highly  offensive  odor. 

It  was  now  suggested  that  I  should  attempt  to  influ- 
ence the  patient's  arm,  as  heretofore.  I  made  the 

attempt  and  failed.  Dr.  F then  intimated  a  desire 

to  have  me  put  a  question.  I  did  so,  as  follows : 

"  M.  Valdemar,  can  you  explain  to  us  what  are  your 
feelings  or  wishes  now  ?  " 

There  was  an  instant  return  of  the  hectic  circles  on 
the  cheeks :  the  tongue  quivered,  or  rather  rolled  vio- 
lently in  the  mouth  (although  the  jaws  and  lips 
remained  rigid  as  before) ;  and  at  length  the  same 
hideous  voice,  which  I  have  already  described,  broke 
forth: 

"  For  God's  sake ! — quick ! — quick ! — put  me  to  sleep 
— or,  quick  ! — waken  me ! — quick  ! — /  say  to  you  that 
I  am  dead  !  " 

I  was  thoroughly  unnerved,  and  for  an  instant 
remained  undecided  what  to  do.  At  first  I  made  an 
endeavor  to  recompose  the  patient ;  but  failing  in  this 
through  total  abeyance  of  the  will,  I  retraced  my  steps 
and  as  earnestly  struggled  to  awaken  him.  In  this 
attempt  I  soon  saw  that  I  should  be  successful — or  at 
least  I  soon  fancied  that  my  success  would  be  complete ; 


THE  CASE  OF  M.   VALDEMAR.  213 

and  I  am  sure  that  all  in  the  room  were  prepared  to  see 
the  patient  awaken. 

For  what  really  occurred,  however,  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible that  any  human  being  could  have  been  prepared. 

As  I  rapidly  made  the  mesmeric  passes,  amid  ejacu- 
lations of  "  dead !  dead  "  absolutely  bursting  from  the 
tongue  and  not  from  the  lips  of  the  sufferer,  his  whole 
frame  at  once — within  the  space  of  a  single  minute,  or 
even  less,  shrunk — crumbled — absolutely  rotted  away 
beneath  my  hands.  Upon  the  bed,  before  that  whole 
company,  there  lay  a  nearly  liquid  mass  of  loathsome — 
of  detestable  putridity. 


MANUSCRIPT  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE 


MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

Qui  n'a  plus  qu'un  moment  a  vivre 

N'a  plus  rien  a  dissimuler. — QUINAULT — ATYS. 

Of  my  country  and  of  my  family  I  have  little  to  say. 
Ill-usage  and  length  of  years  have  driven  me  from  the 
one,  and  estranged  me  from  the  other.  Hereditary 
wealth  afforded  me  an  education  of  no  common  order, 
and  a  contemplative  turn  of  mind  enabled  me  to 
methodize  the  stores  which  early  study  very  diligently 
garnered  up.  Beyond  all  things,  the  works  of  the 
German  moralists  gave  me  great  delight ;  not  from 
any  ill-advised  admiration  of  their  eloquent  madness, 
but  from  the  ease  with  which  my  habits  of  rigid 
thought  enabled  me  to  detect  their  falsities.  I  have 
often  been  reproached  with  the  aridity  of  my  genius ; 
a  deficiency  of  imagination  has  been  imputed  to  me  as 
a  crime ;  and  the  Pyrrhonism  of  my  opinions  has  at 
all  times  rendered  me  notorious.  Indeed,  a  strong 
relish  for  physical  philosophy  has,  I  fear,  tinctured  my 
mind  with  a  very  common  error,  of  this  age — I  mean 
the  habit  of  referring  occurrences,  even  the  least  sus- 
ceptible of  such  reference,  to  the  principles  of  that 
science.  Upon  the  whole,  no  person  could  be  less 
liable  than  myself  to  be  led  away  from  the  severe  pre- 
cincts of  truth  by  the  ignes  fatui  of  superstition.  I 
have  thought  proper  to  premise  thus  much,  lest  the 
incredible  tale  I  have  to  tell  should  be  considered 
rather  the  raving  of  a  crude  imagination  than  the 
(215) 


216  MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

positive  experience  of  a  mind  to  which  the  reveries  of 
fancy  have  been  a  dead  letter  and  a  nullity. 

After  many  years  spent  in  foreign  travel,  I  sailed  in 
the  year  18 — ,  from  the  port  of  Batavia,  in  the  rich  and 
populous  island  of  Java,  on  a  voyage  to  the  Archipelago 
of  the  Sunda  Islands.  I  went  as  a  passenger — having 
no  other  inducement  than  a  kind  of  nervous  restlessness 
which  haunted  me  as  a  fiend. 

Our  vessel  was  a  beautiful  ship  of  about  four  hundred 
tons,  copper-fastened,  and  built  at  Bombay  of  Malabar 
teak.  She  was  freighted  with  cotton-wool  and  oil,  from 
the  Lachadive  Islands.  We  had  also  on  board  coir, 
jaggeree,  ghee,  cocoanuts,  and  a  few  cases  of  opium. 
The  stowage  was  clumsily  done,  and  the  vessel  conse- 
quently crank. 

We  got  under  way  with  a  mere  breath  of  wind,  and 
for  many  days  stood  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Java, 
without  any  other  incident  to  beguile  the  monotony  of 
our  course  than  the  occasional  meeting  with  some  of  the 
small  grabs  of  the  Archipelago  to  which  we  were 
bound. 

One  evening,  leaning  over  the  taffrail,  I  observed  a 
very  singular  isolated  cloud  to  the  N.  W.  It  was 
remarkable,  as  well  for  its  color  as  from  its  being  the 
first  we  had  seen  since  our  departure  from  Batavia. 
I  watched  it  attentively  until  sunset,  when  it  spread 
all  at  once  to  the  eastward  and  westward,  girting  in 
the  horizon  with  a  narrow  strip  of  vapor,  and  looking 
like  a  long  line  of  low  beach.  My  notice  was  soon 
afterwards  attracted  by  the  dusky-red  appearance 
of  the  moon,  and  the  peculiar  character  of  the  sea. 
The  latter  was  undergoing  a  rapid  change,  and  the 
water  seemed  more  than  usually  transparent.  Although 
I  could  distinctly  see  the  bottom,  yet,  heaving  the  lead, 


MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE.  217 

I  found  the  ship  in  fifteen  fathoms.  The  air  now 
became  intolerably  hot,  and  was  loaded  with  spiral 
exhalations  similar  to  those  arising  from  heated  iron. 
As  night  came  on,  every  breath  of  wind  died  away, 
and  a  more  entire  calm  it  is  impossible  to  conceive. 
The  flame  of  a  candle  burned  upon  the  poop  without 
the  least  perceptible  motion,  and  a  long  hair,  held 
between  the  finger  and  thumb,  hung  without  the 
possibility  of  detecting  a  vibration.  However,  as  the 
captain  said  he  could  perceive  no  indication  of  danger, 
and  as  we  were  drifting  in  bodily  to  shore,  he  ordered 
the  sails  to  be  furled  and  the  anchor  let  go.  No 
watch  was  set,  and  the  crew  consisting  principally  of 
Malays,  stretched  themselves  deliberately  upon  deck,  I 
went  below — not  without  a  full  presentiment  of  evil. 
Indeed,  every  appearance  warranted  me  in  apprehend- 
ing a  simoon.  I  told  the  captain  my  fears;  but  he 
paid  no  attention  to  what  I  said,  and  left  me  without 
deigning  to  give  a  reply.  My  uneasiness,  however,  pre- 
vented me  from  sleeping,  and  about  midnight  I  went 
upon  deck.  As  I  placed  my  foot  upon  the  upper  step 
of  the  companion-ladder,  I  was  startled  by  a  loud  hum- 
ming noise,  like  that  occasioned  by  the  rapid  revolution 
of  a  mill-wheel,  and  before  I  could  ascertain  its  meaning, 
I  found  the  ship  quivering  to  its  centre.  In  the  next 
instant  a  wilderness  of  foam  hurled  us  upon  our  beam- 
ends,  and,  rushing  over  us  fore  and  aft,  swept  the  entire 
decks  from  stem  to  stern. 

The  extreme  fury  of  the  blast  proved,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  salvation  of  the  ship.  Although  com- 
pletely water-logged,  yet,  as  her  masts  had  gone  by  the 
board,  she  rose,  after  a  minute,  heavily  from  the  sea, 
and,  staggering  a  while  beneath  the  immense  pressure 
of  the  tempest,  finally  righted. 


218  MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

By  what  miracle  I  escaped  destruction  it  is  impos- 
sible to  say.  Stunned  by  the  shock  of  the  water,  I 
found  myself  upon  recovery,  jammed  in  between  the 
stern-post  and  rudder.  With  great  difficulty  I  gained 
my  feet,  and,  looking  dizzily  around,  was  at  first  struck 
with  the  idea  of  our  being  among  breakers ;  so  terrific, 
beyond  the  wildest  imagination,  was  the  whirlpool  of 
mountainous  and  foaming  ocean  within  which  we  were 
engulfed.  After  a  while  I  heard  the  voice  of  an  old 
Swede,  who  had  shipped  with  us  at  the  moment 
of  our  leaving  port.  I  hallooed  to  him  with  all  my 
strength,  and  presently  he  came  reeling  aft.  We  soon 
discovered  that  we  were  the  sole  survivors  of  the 
accident.  All  on  deck,  with  the  exception  of  our- 
selves, had  been  swept  overboard ;  the  captain  and 
mates  must  have  perished  as  they  slept,  for  the  cabins 
were  deluged  with  water.  Without  assistance  we 
could  expect  to  do  little  for  the  security  of  the  ship, 
and  our  exertions  were  at  first  paralyzed  by  the 
momentary  expectation  of  going  down.  Our  cable 
had,  of  course,  parted  like  pack-thread,  at  the  first 
breath  of  the  hurricane,  or  we  should  have  been  instan- 
taneously overwhelmed.  We  scudded  with  frightful 
velocity  before  the  sea,  and  the  water  made  clear 
breaches  over  us.  The  framework  of  our  stern  was 
shattered  excessively,  and  in  almost  every  respect  we 
had  received  considerable  injury ;  but  to  our  extreme 
joy  we  found  the  pumps  unchoked,  and  that  we  had 
made  no  great  shifting  of  our  ballast.  The  main  fury 
of  the  blast  had  already  blown  over,  and  we  appre- 
hended little  danger  from  the  violence  of  the  wind; 
but  we  looked  forward  to  its  total  cessation  with  dis- 
may ;  well  believing,  that  in  our  shattered  condition, 
we  should  inevitably  perish  in  the  tremendous  swell 


MS.   FOUND  JN  A  BOTTLE.  219 

which  would  ensue.  But  this  very  just  apprehension 
seemed  by  no  means  likely  to  be  soon  verified.  For 
five  entire  days  and  nights — during  which  our  only  sub- 
sistence was  a  small  quantity  of  jaggeree,  procured  with 
great  difficulty  from  the  forecastle — the  hulk  flew  at  a 
rate  defying  computation,  before  rapidly  succeeding 
flaws  of  wind,  which,  without  equaling  the  first  violence 
of  the  simoon,  were  still  more  terrific  than  any  tempest 
I  had  before  encountered.  Our  course  for  the  first 
four  days  was,  with  trifling  variations,  S.  E.  and  by  S. ; 
and  we  must  have  run  down  the  coast  of  New  Holland. 
On  the  fifth  day  the  cold  became  extreme,  although  the 
wind  had  hauled  round  a  point  more  to  the  northward. 
The  sun  arose  with  a  sickly  yellow  lustre,  and  clam- 
bered a  very  few  degrees  above  the  horizon — emitting 
no  decisive  light.  There  were  no  clouds  apparent,  yet 
the  wind  was  upon  the  increase  and  blew  with  a  fitful 
and  unsteady  fury.  About  noon,  as  nearly  as  we  could 
guess,  our  attention  was  again  arrested  by  the  appear- 
ance of  the  sun.  It  gave  out  no  light,  properly  so  called, 
but  a  dull  and  sullen  glow  without  reflection,  as  if  all 
its  rays  were  polarized.  Just  before  sinking  wifhin  the 
turgid  sea,  its  central  fires  suddenly  went  out,  as  if 
hurriedly  extinguished  by  some  unaccountable  power. 
It  was  a  dim,  silver-like  rim,  alone,  as  it  rushed  down 
the  unfathomable  ocean. 

We  waited  in  vain  for  the  arrival  of  the  sixth  day — 
that  day  to  me  has  not  arrived — to  the  Swede  never  did 
arrive.  Thenceforward  we  were  enshrouded  in  pitchy 
darkness,  so  that  we  could  not  have  seen  an  object  at 
twenty  paces  from  the  ship.  Eternal  night  continued 
to  envelop  us,  all  unrelieved  by  the  phosphoric  sea- 
brilliancy  to  which  we  had  been  accustomed  in  the 
tropics.  We  observed,  too,  that,  although  the  tempest 


220  MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

continued  to  rage  with  unabated  violence,  there  was  no 
longer  to  be  discovered  the  usual  appearance  of  surf,  or 
foam,  which  had  hitherto  attended  us.  All  around 
were  horror,  and  thick  gloom,  and  a  black  sweltering 
desert  of  ebony.  Superstitious  terror  crept  by  degrees 
into  the  spirit  of  the  old  Swede,  and  my  own  soul  was 
wrapped  up  in  silent  wonder.  We  neglected  all  care 
of  the  ship  as  worse  than  useless,  and  securing  our- 
selves, as  well  as  possible,  to  the  stump  of  the  mizzenmast, 
looked  out  bitterly  into  the  world  of  ocean.  We  had 
no  means  of  calculating  time,  nor  could  we  form  any 
guess  of  our  situation.  We  were,  however,  well  aware 
of  having  made  farther  to  the  southward  than  any 
previous  navigators,  and  felt  great  amazement  at  not 
meeting  with  the  usual  impediments  of  ice.  In  the 
meantime  every  moment  threatened  to  be  our  last — 
every  mountainous  billow  hurried  to  overwhelm  us. 
The  swell  surpassed  anything  I  had  imagined  possible, 
and  that  we  were  not  instantly  buried  is  a  miracle. 
My  companion  spoke  of  the  lightness  of  our  cargo,  and 
reminded  me  of  the  excellent  qualities  of  our  ship ; 
but  I  could  not  help  feeling  the  utter  hopelessness  of 
hope  itself,  and  prepared  myself  gloomily  for  that  death 
which  I  thought  nothing  could  defer  beyond  an  hour, 
as,  with  every  knot  of  way  the  ship  made,  the  swelling 
of  the  black  stupendous  seas  became  more  dismally 
appalling.  At  times  we  gasped  for  breath  at  an  eleva- 
tion beyond  the  albatross — at  times  became  dizzy  with 
the  velocity  of  our  descent  into  some  watery  hell,  where 
the  air  grew  stagnant,  and  no  sound  disturbed  the 
slumbers  of  the  kraken. 

We  were  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  abysses,  when 
a  quick  scream  from  my  companion  broke  fearfully 
upon  the  night.  "  See  I  see ! "  cried  he,  shrieking  in  my 


MS.   FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE.  221 

ears,  "  Almighty  God !  see !  see  ! "  As  he  spoke,  I 
became  aware  of  a  dull,  sullen  glare  of  red  light  which 
streamed  down  the  sides  of  the  vast  chasm  where  we 
lay,  and  threw  a  fitful  brilliancy  upon  our  deck.  Cast- 
ing my  eyes  upwards,  I  beheld  a  spectacle  which  froze 
the  current  of  my  blood.  At  a  terrific  height  directly 
above  us,  and  upon  the  very  verge  of  the  precipitous 
descent,  hovered  a  gigantic  ship,  of  perhaps  four  thou- 
sand tons.  Although  up  reared  upon  the  summit  of  a 
wave  more  than  a  hundred  times  her  own  altitude,  her 
apparent  size  still  exceeded  that  of  any  ship  of  the  line 
or  East  Indiaman  in  existence.  Her  huge  hull  was  of 
a  deep  dingy  black,  unrelieved  by  any  of  the  customary 
carvings  of  a  ship.  A  single  row  of  brass  cannon  pro- 
truded from  her  open  ports,  and  dashed  from  their 
polished  surfaces  the  fires  of  innumerable  battle-lanterns, 
which  swung  to  and  fro  about  her  rigging.  But  what 
mainly  inspired  us  with  horror  and  astonishment  was, 
that  she  bore  up  under  a  press  of  sail  in  the  very  teeth 
of  that  supernatural  sea,  and  of  that  ungovernable 
hurricane.  When  we  first  discovered  her,  her  bows 
were  alone  to  be  seen,  as  she  rose  slowly  from  the  dim 
and  horrible  gulf  beyond  her.  For  a  moment  of  intense 
terror  she  paused  upon  the  giddy  pinnacle,  as  if  in 
contemplation  of  her  own  sublimity,  then  trembled  and 
tottered,  and — came  down. 

At  this  instant,  I  know  not  what  sudden  self-pos- 
session came  over  my  spirit.  Staggering  as  far  aft  as 
I  could,  I  awaited  fearlessly  the  ruin  that  was  to  over- 
whelm. Our  own  vessel  was  at  length  ceasing  from 
her  struggles,  and  sinking  with  her  head  to  the  sea. 
The  shock  of  the  descending  mass  struck  her,  conse- 
quently, in  that  portion  of  her  frame  which  was  already 
under  water,  and  the  inevitable  result  was  to  hurl 


222  MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

me,  with  irresistible  violence,  upon  the  rigging  of  the 
stranger. 

As  I  fell,  the  ship  hove  in  stays,  and  went  about, 
and  to  the  confusion  ensuing  I  attributed  my  escape 
from  the  notice  of  the  crew.  With  little  difficulty  I 
made  my  way,  unperceived,  to  the  main  hatchway, 
which  was  partially  open,  and  soon  found  an  opportu- 
nity of  secreting  myself  in  the  hold.  Why  I  did  so  I 
can  hardly  tell.  An  indefinite  sense  of  awe,  which  at 
first  sight  of  the  navigators  of  the  ship  had  taken  hold  of 
my  mind,  was  perhaps  the  principle  of  my  concealment. 
I  was  unwilling  to  trust  myself  with  a  race  of  people  who 
had  offered,  to  the  cursory  glance  I  had  taken,  so  many 
points  of  vague  novelty,  doubt,  and  apprehension.  I 
therefore  thought  proper  to  contrive  a  hiding  place  in 
the  hold.  This  I  did  by  removing  a  small  portion  of  the 
shifting-boards,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford  me  a  con- 
venient retreat  between  the  huge  timbers  of  the  ship. 

I  had  scarcely  completed  my  work,  when  a  footstep 
in  the  hold  forced  me  to  make  use  of  it.  A  man  passed 
by  my  place  of  concealment  with  a  feeble  and  unsteady 
gait.  I  could  not  see  his  face,  but  had  an  opportunity 
of  observing  his  general  appearance.  There  was  about 
it  an  evidence  of  great  age  and  infirmity.  His  knees 
tottered  beneath  a  load  of  years,  and  his  entire  frame 
quivered  under  the  burden.  He  muttered  to  himself, 
in  a  low  broken  tone,  some  words  of  a  language  which 
I  could  not  understand,  and  groped  in  a  corner  among 
a  pile  of  singular-looking  instruments,  and  decayed 
charts  of  navigation.  His  manner  was  a  wild  mixture 
of  the  peevishness  of  second  childhood  and  the  solemn 
dignity  of  a  God.  He  at  length  went  on  deck,  and  I 
saw  him  no  more. 

*  *  *  * 


MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE.  223 

A  feeling,  for  which  I  have  no  name,  has  taken  pos- 
session of  my  soul — a  sensation  which  will  admit  of  no 
analysis,  to  which  the  lessons  of  bygone  time  are  inade- 
quate, and  for  which  I  fear  futurity  itself  will  offer  me 
no  key.  To  a  mind  constituted  like  my  own,  the  latter 
consideration  is  an  evil.  I  shall  never — I  know  that  I 
shall  never — be  satisfied  with  regard  to  the  nature  of 
my  conceptions.  Yet  it  is  not  wonderful  that  these 
conceptions  are  indefinite,  since  they  have  their  origin 
in  sources  so  utterly  novel.  A  new  sense — a  new  entity 
is  added  to  my  soul. 

5|C  ?f»  3J»  *j» 

It  is  long  since  I  first  trod  the  deck  of  this  terrible 
ship,  and  the  rays  of  my  destiny  are,  I  think,  gathering 
to  a  focus.  Incomprehensible  men !  Wrapped  up  in 
meditations  of  a  kind  which  I  cannot  divine,  they  pass 
me  by  unnoticed.  Concealment  is  utter  folly  on  my 
part,  for  the  people  will  not  see.  It  was  but  just  now 
that  I  passed  directly  before  the  eyes  of  the  mate ;  it 
was  no  long  while  ago  that  I  ventured  into  the  cap- 
tain's own  private  cabin,  and  took  thence  the  materials 
with  which  I  write,  and  have  written.  I  shall  from 
time  to  time  continue  this  journal.  It  is  true  that  I 
may  not  find  an  opportunity  of  transmitting  it  to  the 
world,  but  I  will  not  fail  to  make  the  endeavor.  At 
the  last  moment  I  will  enclose  the  MS.  in  a  bottle  and 
cast  it  within  the  sea. 

*  *  *  * 

An  incident  has  occurred  which  has  given  me  new 
room  for  meditation.  Are  such  things  the  operation 
of  ungoverned  chance?  I  have  ventured  upon  deck 
and  thrown  myself  down,  without  attracting  any 
notice,  among  a  pile  of  ratline  stuff  and  old  sails,  in 
the  bottom  of  the  yawl.  While  musing  upon  the 


224  MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

singularity  of  my  fate,  I  unwittingly  daubed  with  a 
tar  brush  the  edges  of  a  neatly  folded  studding-sail 
which  lay  near  me  on  a  barrel.  The  studding-sail  is 
now  bent  upon  the  ship,  and  the  thoughtless  touches  of 
the  brush  are  spread  out  into  the  word  DISCOVERY. 

I  have  made  many  observations  lately  upon  the 
structure  of  the  vessel.  Although  well  armed,  she  is 
not,  I  think,  a  ship  of  war.  Her  rigging,  build,  and 
general  equipment,  all  negative  a  supposition  of  this 
kind.  What  she  is  not,  I  can  easily  perceive ;  what 
she  is,  I  fear  it  is  impossible  to  say.  I  know  not  how 
it  is,  but  in  scrutinizing  her  strange  model  and  singular 
cast  of  spars,  her  huge  size  and  overgrown  suits^  of 
canvas,  her  severely  simple  bow  and  antiquated  stern, 
there  will  occasionally  flash  across  my  mind  a  sensa- 
tion of  familiar  things,  and  there  is  always  mixed  up 
with  such  indistinct  shadows  of  recollection  an  un- 
accountable memory  of  old  foreign  chronicles  and  ages 
long  ago. 

*T*  *•*•  *l*  *T* 

I  have  been  looking  at  the  timbers  of  the  ship.  She 
is  built  of  a  material  to  which  I  am  a  stranger.  There 
is  a  peculiar  character  about  the  wood  which  strikes 
me  as  rendering  it  unfit  for  the  purpose  to  which  it  has 
been  applied.  I  mean  its  extreme  porousness,  considered 
independently  of  the  worm-eaten  condition  which  is  a 
consequence  of  navigation  in  these  seas,  and  apart  from 
the  rottenness  attendant  upon  age.  It  will  appear  per- 
haps an  observation  somewhat  over-curious,  but  this 
wood  would  have  every  characteristic  of  Spanish  oak, 
if  Spanish  oak  were  distended  by  any  unnatural  means. 

In  reading  the  above  sentence,  a  curious  apothegm 
of  an  old  weather-beaten  Dutch  navigator  comes  full 
upon  my  recollection.  "  It  is  as  sure,"  he  was  wont  to 


.MSI  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE.  225 

say,  when  any  doubt  was  entertained  of  his  veracity, 
"  as  sure  as  there  is  a  sea  where  the  ship  itself  will  grow 
in  bulk  like  the  living  body  of  the  seaman."  *  *  *  * 

About  an  hour  ago,  I  made  bold  to  thrust  myself 
among  a  group  of  the  crew.  They  paid  me  no  manner 
of  attention,  and,  although  I  stood  in  the  very  midst  of 
them  all,  seemed  utterly  unconscious  of  my  presence. 
Like  the  one  I  had  first  seen  in  the  hold,  they  all  bore 
about  them  the  marks  of  a  hoary  old  age.  Their  knees 
trembled  with  infirmity;  their  shoulders  were  bent 
double  with  decrepitude;  their  shriveled  skins  rattled 
in  the  wind;  their  voices  were  low,  tremulous,  and 
broken,  their  eyes  glistened  with  the  rheum  of  years ; 
and  their  gray  hairs  streamed  terribly  in  the  tempest. 
Around  them,  on  every  part  of  the  deck,  lay  scattered 
mathematical  instruments  of  the  most  quaint  and  obso- 
lete construction.  ***** 

I  mentioned  some  time  ago  the  bending  of  a  studding- 
sail.  From  that  period,  the  ship,  being  thrown  dead  off 
the  wind,  has  continued  her  terrific  course  due  south,  with 
every  rag  of  canvas  packed  upon  her,  from  her  trucks 
to  her  lower  studding-sail  booms,  and  rolling  every 
moment  her  top-gallant  yard-arms  into  the  most  appall- 
ing hell  of  water  which  it  can  enter  into  the  mind 
of  man  to  imagine.  I  have  just  left  the  deck,  where  I 
find  it  impossible  to  maintain  a  footing,  although  the 
crew  seem  to  experience  little  inconvenience.  It  appears 
to  me  a  miracle  of  miracles  that  our  enormous  bulk  is 
not  swallowed  up  at  once  and  forever.  We  are  surely 
doomed  to  hover  continually  upon  the  brink  of  eternity, 
without  taking  a  final  plunge  into  the  abyss.  From 
billows  a  thousand  times  more  stupendous  than  any  I 
have  even  seen,  we  glide  away  with  the  facility  of  the 
arrowy  sea-gull ;  and  the  colossal  waters  rear  their  heads 

Vol.  I— 15. 


228  MS.   FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

above  us  like  demons  of  the  deep,  but  like  demons 
confined  to  simple  threats,  and  forbidden  to  destroy. 
I  am  led  to  attribute  these  frequent  escapes  to  the  only 
natural  cause  which  can  account  for  such  effect.  I 
must  suppose  the  ship  to  be  within  the  influence  of 
some  strong  current,  or  impetuous  under-tow.  *  *  * 
I  have  seen  the  captain  face  to  face,  and  in  his  own 
cabin — but,  as  I  expected,  he  paid  me  no  attention. 
Although  in  his  appearance  there  is,  to  a  casual  ob- 
server, nothing  which  might  bespeak  him  more  or  less 
than  man,  still,  a  feeling  of  irrepressible  reverence  and 
awe  mingled  with  the  sensation  of  wonder  with  which  I 
regarded  him.  In  stature,  he  is  nearly  my  own  height ; 
that  is,  about  five  feet  eight  inches.  He  is  of  a  well-knit 
and  compact  frame  of  body,  neither  robust  nor  remark- 
able otherwise.  But  it  is  the  singularity  of  the  expres- 
sion which  reigns  upon  the  face — it  is  the  intense,  the 
wonderful,  the  thrilling  evidence  of  old  age,  so  utter,  so 
extreme,  which  excites  within  my  spirit  a  sense — a  senti- 
ment ineffable.  His  forehead,  although  little  wrinkled, 
seems  to  bear  upon  it  the  stamp  of  a  myriad  of  years. 
His  gray  hairs  are  records  of  the  past,  and  his  grayer 
eyes  are  sibyls  of  the  future.  The  cabin  floor  was 
thickly  strewn  with  strange,  iron-clasped  folios,  and 
mouldering  instruments  of  science,  and  obsolete  long- 
forgotten  charts.  His  head  was  bowed  down  upon  his 
hands,  and  he  pored  with  a  fiery  unquiet  eye  over  a 
paper  which  I  took  to  be  a  commission,  and  which,  at 
all  events,  bore  the  signature  of  a  monarch.  He  mut- 
tered to  himself — as  did  the  first  seaman  whom  I  saw 
in  the  hold — some  low  peevish  syllables  of  a  foreign 
tongue;  and  although  the  speaker  was  close  at  my 
elbow,  his  voice  seemed  to  reach  my  ears  from  the 
distance  of  a  mile.  ***** 


MS.  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE.  227 

The  ship  and  all  in  it  are  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Eld.  The  crew  glide  to  and  fro  like  the  ghosts  of 
buried  centuries  ;  their  eyes  have  an  eager  and  uneasy 
meaning ;  and  when  their  figures  fall  athwart  my  path 
in  the  wild  glare  of  the  battle-lanterns,  I  feel  as  I  have 
never  felt  before,  although  I  have  been  all  my  life  a 
dealer  in  antiquities,  and  have  imbibed  the  shadows  of 
fallen  columns  at  Balbec,  and  Tadmor,  and  Persepolis, 
until  my  very  soul  has  become  a  ruin. 

When  I  look  around  me  I  feel  ashamed  of  my  former 
apprehensions.  If  I  trembled  at  the  blast  which  has 
hitherto  attended  us,  shall  I  not  stand  aghast  at  a  war- 
ring of  wind  and  ocean,  to  convey  any  idea  of  which 
the  words  tornado  and  simoon  are  trivial  and  ineffec- 
tive ?  All  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  ship  is  the 
blackness  of  eternal  night,  and  a  chaos  of  foamless 
water ;  but,  about  a  league  on  either  side  of  us,  may  be 
seen,  indistinctly  and  at  intervals,  stupendous  ramparts 
of  ice  towering  away  into  the  desolate  sky,  and  looking 
like  the  walls  of  the  universe.  *  *  * 

As  I  imagined,  the  ship  proves  to  be  in  a  current — 
if  that  appellation  can  properly  be  given  to  a  tide 
which  howling  and  shrieking  by  the  white  ice,  thunders 
on  to  the  southward  with  a  velocity  like  the  headlong 
dashing  of  a  cataract.  *  *  * 

To  conceive  the  horror  of  my  sensations  is,  I  presume, 
utterly  impossible ;  yet  a  curiosity  to  penetrate  the 
mysteries  of  these  awful  regions  predominates  even  over 
my  despair,  and  will  reconcile  me  to  the  most  hideous 
aspect  of  death.  It  is  evident  that  we  are  hurrying 
onwards  to  some  exciting  knowledge — some  never-to-be- 
imparted  secret,  whose  attainment  is  destruction.  Per- 
haps this  current  leads  us  to  the  southern  pole  itself. 


228  MS,  FOUND  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  a  supposition  apparently  so 
wild  has  every  probability  in  its  favor. 

#  #  #  # 

The  crew  pace  the  deck  with  unquiet  and  tremulous 
step ;  but  there  is  upon  their  countenances  an  expres- 
sion more  of  the  eagerness  of  hope  than  of  the  apathy 
of  despair. 

In  the  meantime  the  wind  is  still  in  our  poop,  and  as 
we  carry  a  crowd  of  canvas  the  ship  is  at  times  lifted 
bodily  from  out  the  sea !  Oh,  horror  upon  horror ! — 
the  ice  opens  suddenly  to  the  right,  and  to  the  left,  and 
we  are  whirling  dizzily,  in  immense  concentric  circles, 
round  and  round  the  borders  of  a  gigantic  amphitheatre, 
the  summit  of  whose  walls  is  lost  in  the  darkness  and 
the  distance.  But  little  time  will  be  left  me  to  ponder 
upon  my  destiny !  The  circles  rapidly  grow  small — we 
are  plunging  madly  within  the  grasp  of  the  whirlpool — 
and  amid  a  roaring,  and  bellowing  and  thundering  of 
ocean  and  of  tempest,  the  ship  is  quivering — O  God ! 
and going  down ! 

Note.—  The  "  MS.  Found  In  a  Bottle  "  was  originally  published  in  1831, 
and  it  was  not  until  many  years  afterwards  that  I  became  acquainted 
with  the  maps  of  Mercator,  in  which  the  ocean  is  represented  as  rushing, 
by  four  mouths,  into  the  (northern)  Polar  Gulf,  to  be  absorbed  into  the 
bowels  of  the  earth ;  the  Pole  itself  being  represented  by  a  black  rock 
towering  to  a  prodigious  height. 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

The  ways  of  God  in  Nature,  as  in  Providence,  are  not  as  our  ways ;  nor 
are  the  models  that  we  frame  any  way  commensurate  to  the  vastness, 
profundity,  and  unsearchableness  of  His  works,  which  have  a  depth  in  them 
greater  than  the  wett  of  Democrittis.— JOSEPH  GLANVILL. 

We  had  now  reached  the  summit  of  the  loftiest  crag. 
For  some  minutes  the  old  man  seemed  too  much  ex- 
hausted to  speak. 

"Not  long  ago,"  said  he  at  length,  "and  I  could 
have  guided  you  on  this  route  as  well  as  the  youngest 
of  my  sons ;  but  about  three  years  past,  there  happened 
to  me  an  event  such  as  never  happened  before  to  mortal 
man — or  at  least  such  as  no  man  ever  survived  to  tell  of 
— and  the  six  hours  of  deadly  terror  which  I  then 
endured  have  broken  me  up  body  and  soul.  You  sup- 
pose me  a  very  old  man — but  I  am  not.  It  took  less  than 
a  single  day  to  change  these  hairs  from  a  jetty  black  to 
white,  to  weaken  my  limbs,  and  to  unstring  my  nerves, 
so  that  I  tremble  at  the  least  exertion,  and  am  frightened 
at  a  shadow.  Do  you  know  I  can  scarcely  look  over 
this  little  cliff  without  getting  giddy  ?  " 

The  "  little  cliff,"  upon  whose  edge  he  had  so  care- 
lessly thrown  himself  down  to  rest  that  the  weightier 
portion  of  his  body  hung  over  it,  while  he  was  only 
kept  from  falling  by  the  tenure  of  his  elbow  on  its 
extreme  and  slippery  edge — this  "  little  cliff"  arose,  a 
sheer  unobstructed  precipice  of  black  shining  rock, 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  hundred  feet  from  the  world  of 
(229) 


230         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

crags  beneath  us.  Nothing  would  have  tempted  me  to 
within  half  a  dozen  yards  of  its  brink.  In  truth  so 
deeply  was  I  excited  by  the  perilous  position  of  my  com- 
panion, that  I  fell  at  full  length  upon  the  ground,  clung 
to  the  shrubs  around  me,  and  dared  not  even  glance 
upward  at  the  sky — while  I  struggled  in  vain  to  divest 
myself  of  the  idea  that  the  very  foundations  of  the 
mountain  were  in  danger  from  the  fury  of  the  winds. 
It  was  long  before  I  could  reason  myself  into  sufficient 
courage  to  sit  up  and  look  out  into  the  distance. 

"  You  must  get  over  these  fancies,"  said  the  guide, 
"  for  I  have  brought  you  here  that  you  might  have  the 
best  possible  view  of  the  scene  of  that  event  I  mentioned 
— and  to  tell  you  the  whole  story  with  the  spot  just 
under  your  eye." 

"  We  are  now,"  he  continued  in  that  particularizing 
manner  which  distinguished  him — "we  are  now  close 
upon  the  Norwegian  coast — in  the  sixty-eighth  degree 
of  latitude — in  the  great  province  of  Nordland — and  in 
the  dreary  district  of  Lofoden.  The  mountain  upon 
whose  top  we  sit  is  Helseggen,  the  Cloudy.  Now  raise 
yourself  up  a  little  higher — hold  on  to  the  grass  if  you 
feel  giddy — so — and  look  out,  beyond  the  belt  of  vapor 
beneath  us  into  the  sea." 

I  looked  dizzily,  and  beheld  a  wide  expanse  of  ocean, 
whose  waters  wore  so  inky  a  hue  as  to  bring  at  once  to 
my  mind  the  Nubian  geographer's  account  of  the  Mare 
Tenebrarum.  A  panorama  more  deplorably  desolate 
no  human  imagination  can  conceive.  To  the  right  and 
left,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  there  lay  outstretched, 
like  ramparts  of  the  world,  lines  of  horribly  black  and 
beetling  cliff,  whose  character  of  gloom  was  but  the 
more  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  surf  which  reared  high 
up  against  it,  its  white  and  ghastly  crest,  howling  and 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.         231 

shrieking  forever.  Just  opposite  the  promontory  upon 
whose  apex  we  were  placed,  and  at  a  distance  of  some 
five  or  six  miles  out  at  sea,  there  was  visible  a  small, 
bleak-looking  island ;  or,  more  properly,  its  position  was 
discernible  through  the  wilderness  of  surge  in  which 
it  was  enveloped.  About  two  miles  nearer  the  land 
arose  another  of  smaller  size,  hideously  craggy  and 
barren,  and  encompassed  at  various  intervals  by  a  clus- 
ter of  dark  rocks. 

The  appearance  of  the  ocean,  in  the  space  between 
the  more  distant  island  and  the  shore,  had  something 
very  unusual  about  it.  Although  at  the  time  so  strong 
a  gale  was  blowing  landward  that  a  brig  in  the  remote 
offing  lay  to  under  a  double-reefed  try-sail,  and  con- 
stantly plunged  her  whole  hull  out  of  sight,  still  there 
was  here  nothing  like  a  regular  swell,  but  only  a  short, 
quick,  angry  cross  dashing  of  water  in  every  direction 
— as  well  in  the  teeth  of  the  wind  as  otherwise.  Of 
foam  there  was  little  except  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  rocks. 

"  The  island  in  the  distance,"  resumed  the  old  man, 
"  is  called  by  the  Norwegians  Vurrgh.  The  one  mid- 
way is  Moskoe.  That  a  mile  to  the  northward  is 
Ambaaren.  Yonder  are  Islesen,  Hotholm,  Keildhelm, 
Suarven,  and  Buckholm.  Farther  off- — between  Moskoe 
and  Vurrgh — are  Otterholm,  Flimen,  Sandflesen,  and 
Stockholm.  These  are  the  true  names  of  the  places — 
but  why  it  has  been  thought  necessary  to  name  them 
at  all,  is  more  than  either  you  or  I  can  understand. 
Do  you  hear  anything  ?  Do  you  see  any  change  in  the 
water?" 

We  had  now  been  about  ten  minutes  upon  the  top 
of  Helseggen,  to  which  we  had  ascended  from  the 
interior  of  Lofoden,  so  that  we  had  caught  no  glimpse 


232         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

of  the  sea  until  it  had  burst  upon  us  from  the  summit. 
As  the  old  man  spoke,  I  became  aware  of  a  loud  and 
gradually  increasing  sound,  like  the  moaning  of  a  vast 
herd  of  buffaloes  upon  an  American  prairie  ;  and  at  the 
same  moment  I  perceived  that  what  seamen  term  the 
chopping  character  of  the  ocean  beneath  us,  was  rapidly 
changing  into  a  current  which  set  to  the  eastward. 
Even  while  I  gazed  this  current  acquired  a  monstrous 
velocity.  Each  moment  added  to  its  speed — to  its 
headlong  impetuosity.  In  five  minutes  the  whole  sea 
as  far  as  Vurrgh  was  lashed  into  ungovernable  fury ; 
but  it  was  between  Moskoe  and  the  coast  that  the  main 
uproar  held  its  sway.  Here  the  vast  bed  of  the  waters, 
seamed  and  scarred  into  a  thousand  conflicting  channels, 
burst  suddenly  into  frenzied  convulsion — heaving,  boil- 
ing, hissing — gyrating  in  gigantic  and  innumerable  vor- 
tices, and  all  whirling  and  plunging  on  to  the  eastward 
with  a  rapidity  which  water  never  elsewhere  assumes 
except  in  precipitous  descents. 

In  a  few  moments  more,  there  came  over  the  scene 
another  radical  alteration.  The  general  surface  grew 
somewhat  more  smooth,  and  the  whirlpools  one  by  one 
disappeared,  while  prodigious  streaks  of  foam  became 
apparent  where  none  had  been  seen  before.  These 
streaks,  at  length,  spreading  out  to  a  great  distance, 
and  entering  into  combination,  took  unto  themselves 
the  gyratory  motion  of  the  subsided  vortices,  and  seemed 
to  form  the  germ  of  another  more  vast.  Suddenly — 
very  suddenly — this  assumed  a  distinct  and  definite 
existence  in  a  circle  of  more  than  a  mile  in  diameter. 
The  edge  of  the  whirl  was  represented  by  a  broad  belt 
of  gleaming  spray  ;  but  no  particle  of  this  slipped  into 
the  mouth  of  the  terrific  funnel,  whose  interior,  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  fathom  it,  was  a  smooth,  shining,  and 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.          233 

jet-black  wall  of  water,  inclined  to  the  horizon  at  an 
angle  of  some  forty-five  degrees,  speeding  dizzily  round 
and  round  with  a  swaying  and  sweltering  motion,  and 
sending  forth  to  the  winds  an  appalling  voice,  half-shriek, 
half-roar,  such  as  not  even  the  mighty  cataract  of 
Niagara  ever  lifts  up  in  its  agony  to  heaven. 

The  mountain  trembled  to  its  very  base,  and  the 
rock  rocked.  I  threw  myself  upon  my  face,  and 
clung  to  the  scant  herbage  in  an  excess  of  nervous 
agitation. 

"  This,"  said  I  at  length,  to  the  old  man — "  this  can 
be  nothing  else  than  the  great  whirlpool  of  the  Mael- 
strom." 

"  So  it  is  sometimes  termed,"  said  he.  "  We  Nor- 
wegians call  it  the  Moskoe-strom,  from  the  island  of 
Moskoe  in  the  midway." 

The  ordinary  accounts  of  this  vortex  had  by  no  means 
prepared  me  for  what  I  saw.  That  of  Jonas  Ramus, 
which  is  perhaps  the  most  circumstantial  of  any,  cannot 
impart  the  faintest  conception  either  of  the  magnificence, 
or  of  the  horror  of  the  scene — or  of  the  wild  bewildering 
sense  of  the  novel  which  confounds  the  beholder.  I  am 
not  sure  from  what  point  of  view  the  writer  in  question 
surveyed  it,  nor  at  what  time ;  but  it  could  neither  have 
been  from  the  summit  of  Helseggen,  nor  during  a  storm. 
There  are  some  passages  of  his  description,  nevertheless, 
which  may  be  qiioted  for  their  details,  although  their 
effect  is  exceedingly  feeble  in  conveying  an  impression 
of  the  spectacle. 

"  Between  Lofoden  and  Moskoe,"  he  says,  "  the  depth 
of  the  water  is  between  thirty-five  and  forty  fathoms ; 
but  on  the  other  side,  toward  Ver  (Vurrgh),  this 
depth  decreases  so  as  not  to  afford  a  convenient  pas- 
sage for  a  vessel,  without  the  risk  of  splitting  on  the 


234         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

rocks,  which  happens  even  in  the  calmest  weather. 
When  it  is  flood,  the  stream  runs  up  the  country 
between  Lofoden  and  Moskoe  with  a  boisterous 
rapidity,  but  the  roar  of  its  impetuous  ebb  to  the  sea 
is  scarce  equaled  by  the  loudest  and  most  dreadful 
cataracts — the  noise  being  heard  several  leagues  off, 
and  the  vortices  or  pits  are  of  such  an  extent  and 
depth,  that  if  a  ship  comes  within  its  attraction  it  is 
inevitably  absorbed  and  carried  down  to  the  bottom 
and  there  beat  to  pieces  against  the  rocks,  and  when 
the  water  relaxes  the  fragments  thereof  are  thrown  up 
again.  But  these  intervals  of  tranquillity  are  only  at 
the  turn  of  the  ebb  and  flood,  and  in  calm  weather, 
and  last  but  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  its  violence  gradually 
returning.  When  the  stream  is  most  boisterous,  and 
its  fury  heightened  by  a  storm,  it  is  dangerous  to  come 
within  a  Norway  mile  of  it.  Boats,  yachts,  and  ships 
have  been  carried  away  by  not  guarding  against  it 
before  they  were  within  its  reach.  It  likewise  happens 
frequently  that  whales  come  too  near  the  stream,  and 
are  overpowered  by  its  violence,  and  then  it  is  impos- 
sible to  describe  their  howlings  and  bellowings  in  their 
fruitless  struggles  to  disengage  themselves.  A  bear 
once,  attempting  to  swim  from  Lofoden  to  Moskoe, 
was  caught  by  the  stream  and  borne  down,  while  he 
roared  terribly,  so  as  to  be  heard  on  shore.  Large 
stocks  of  firs  and  pine  trees,  after  being  absorbed  by  the 
current,  rise  again  broken  and  torn  to  such  a  degree 
as  if  bristles  grew  upon  them.  This  plainly  shows  the 
bottom  to  consist  of  craggy  rocks,  among  which  they 
are  whirled  to  and  fro.  This  stream  is  regulated  by 
the  flux  and  reflux  of  the  sea — it  being  constantly  high 
and  low  water  every  six  hours.  In  the  year  1645, 
early  in  the  morning  of  Sexagesima  Sunday,  it  raged 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.          235 

with  such  noise  and  impetuosity  that  the  very  stones  of 
the  houses  on  the  coast  fell  to  the  ground." 

In  regard  to  the  depth  of  the  water,  I  could  not  see 
how  this  could  have  been  ascertained  at  all  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  vortex.  The  "  forty  fathoms  " 
must  have  reference  only  to  portions  of  the  channel  close 
upon  the  shore  either  of  Moskoe  or  Lofoden.  The 
depth  in  the  centre  of  the  Moskoe-strom  must  be  im- 
measurably greater ;  and  no  better  proof  of  this  fact  is 
necessary  than  can  be  obtained  from  even  the  sidelong 
glance  into  the  abyss  of  the  whirl  which  may  be  had 
from  the  highest  crag  of  Helseggen.  Looking  down 
from  this  pinnacle  upon  the  howling  Phlegethon  below, 
I  could  not  help  smiling  at  the  simplicity  with  which 
the  honest  Jonas  Ramus  records,  as  a  matter  difficult 
of  belief,  the  anecdotes  of  the  whales  and  the  bears ;  for 
it  appeared  to  me,  in  fact,  a  self-evident  thing  that  the 
largest  ship  of  the  line  in  existence  coming  within  the 
influence  of  that  deadly  attraction  could  resist  it  as  little 
as  a  feather  the  hurricane,  and  must  disappear  bodily 
and  at  once. 

The  attempts  to  account  for  the  phenomenon — some 
of  which  I  remember  seemed  to  me  sufficiently  plausible 
in  perusal — now  wore  a  very  different  and  unsatisfac- 
tory aspect.  The  idea  generally  received  is  that  this 
as  well  as  three  smaller  vortices  among  the  Ferroe 
Islands,  "  have  no  other  cause  than  the  collision  of 
waves  rising  and  falling  at  flux  and  reflux  against  a 
ridge  of  rocks  and  shelves,  which  confines  the  water  so 
that  it  precipitates  itself  like  a  cataract ;  and  thus  the 
higher  the  flood  rises  the  deeper  must  the  fall  be,  and 
the  natural  result  of  all  is  a  whirlpool  or  vortex, 
the  prodigious  suction  of  which  is  sufficiently  known 
by  lesser  experiments." — These  are  the  words  of  the 


236          A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  Kircher  and  others  imagine 
that  in  the  centre  of  the  channel  of  the  Maelstrom  is  an 
abyss  penetrating  the  globe,  and  issuing  in  some  very 
remote  part — the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  being  somewhat 
decidedly  named  in  one  instance.  This  opinion,  idle  in 
itself,  was  the  one  to  which,  as  I  gazed,  my  imagination 
most  readily  assented ;  and  mentioning  it  to  the  guide,  I 
was  rather  surprised  to  hear  him  say  that,  although  it 
was  the  view  almost  universally  entertained  of  the  sub- 
ject by  the  Norwegians,  it  nevertheless  was  not  his  own. 
As  to  the  former  notion  he  confessed  his  inability  to  com- 
prehend it ;  and  here  I  agreed  with  him — for  however 
conclusive  on  paper,  it  becomes  altogether  unintelligible, 
and  even  absurd,  amid  the  thunder  of  the  abyss. 

"  You  have  had  a  good  look  at  the  whirl  now,"  said 
the  old  man,  "  and  if  you  will  creep  round  this  crag  so 
as  to  get  in  its  lee,  and  deaden  the  roar  of  the  water,  I 
will  tell  you  a  story  that  will  convince  you  I  ought  to 
know  something  of  the  Moskoe-strom." 

I  placed  myself  as  desired,  and  he  proceeded. 

"  Myself  and  my  two  brothers  once  owned  a  schooner- 
rigged  smack  of  about  seventy  tons  burthen,  with 
which  we  were  in  the  habit  of  fishing  among  the  islands 
beyond  Moskoe,  nearly  to  Vurrgh.  In  all  violent 
eddies  at  sea  there  is  good  fishing  at  proper  opportuni- 
ties if  one  has  only  the  courage  to  attempt  it,  but  among 
the  whole  of  the  Lofoden  coastmen,  we  three  were  the 
only  ones  who  made  a  regular  business  of  going  out  to 
the  islands  as  I  tell  you.  The  usual  grounds  are  a 
great  way  lower  down  to  the  southward.  There  fish 
can  be  got  at  all  hours,  without  much  risk,  and  there- 
fore these  places  are  preferred.  The  choice  spots  over 
here  among  the  rocks,  however,  not  only  yield  the 
finest  variety,  but  in  far  greater  abundance,  so  that  we 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.  237 

often  got  in  a  single  day  what  the  more  timid  of  the 
craft  could  not  scrape  together  in  a  week.  In  fact,  we 
made  it  a  matter  of  desperate  speculation — the  risk  of 
life  standing  instead  of  labor,  and  courage  answering 
for  capital. 

"We  kept  the  smack  in  a  cove  about  five  miles 
higher  up  the  coast  than  this ;  and  it  was  our  practice, 
in  fine  weather,  to  take  advantage  of  the  fifteen 
minutes'  slack  to  push  across  the  main  channel  of  the 
Moskoe-strom,  far  above  the  pool,  and  then  drop  down 
upon  anchorage  somewhere  near  Otterholm,  or  Sand- 
flesen,  where  the  eddies  are  not  so  violent  as  elsewhere. 
Here  we  used  to  remain  until  nearly  time  for  slack- 
water  again,  when  we  weighed  and  made  for  home. 
We  never  set  out  upon  this  expedition  without  a 
steady  side  wind  for  going  and  coming — one  that  we 
felt  sure  would  not  fail  us  before  our  return — and  we 
seldom  made  a  miscalculation  upon  this  point.  Twice 
during  six  years  we  were  forced  to  stay  all  night  at 
anchor  on  account  of  a  dead  calm,  which  is  a  rare 
thing  indeed,  just  about  here ;  and  once  we  had  to 
remain  on  the  grounds  nearly  a  week,  starving  to 
death,  owing  to  a  gale  which  blew  up  shortly  after 
our  arrival,  and  made  the  channel  too  boisterous  to  be 
thought  of.  Upon  this  occasion  we  should  have  been 
driven  out  to  sea  in  spite  of  everything  (for  the  whirl- 
pools threw  us  round  and  round  so  violently  that  at 
length  we  fouled  our  anchor  and  dragged  it)  if  it  had 
not  been  that  we  drifted  into  one  of  the  innumerable 
cross  currents — here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow — which 
drove  us  under  the  lee  of  Flimen,  where  by  good  luck, 
we  brought  up. 

"  I  could  not  tell  you  the  twentieth  part  of  the  diffi- 
culties we  encountered  'on  the  grounds' — it  is  a  bad 


238         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

spot  to  be  in,  even  in  good  weather — but  we  made 
shift  always  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  Moskoe-strom 
itself  without  accident :  although  at  times  my  heart  has 
been  in  my  mouth  when  we  happened  to  be  a  minute 
or  so  behind  or  before  the  slack.  The  wind  sometimes 
was  not  as  strong  as  we  thought  it  at  starting,  and 
then  we  made  rather  less  way  than  we  could  wish,  while 
the  current  rendered  the  smack  unmanageable.  My 
eldest  brother  had  a  son  eighteen  years  old,  and  I  had 
two  stout  boys  of  my  own.  These  would  have  been 
of  great  assistance  at  such  times  in  using  the  sweeps,  as 
well  as  afterwards  in  fishing,  but  somehow,  although 
we  ran  the  risk  ourselves,  we  had  not  the  heart  to 
let  the  young  ones  get  into  the  danger — for,  after  all  is 
said  and  done,  it  was  a  horrible  danger,  and  that  is  the 
truth. 

"  It  is  now  within  a  few  days  of  three  years  since 
what  I  am  going  to  tell  you  occurred.  It  was  on  the 
tenth  day  of  July,  18 — ,  a  day  which  the  people  of  this 
part  of  the  world  will  never  forget — for  it  was  one  in 
which  blew  the  most  terrible  hurricane  that  ever  came 
out  of  the  heavens ;  and  yet  all  the  morning,  and  indeed 
until  late  in  the  afternoon,  there  was  a  gentle  and  steady 
breeze  from  the  southwest,  while  the  sun  shone  brightly 
so  that  the  oldest  seaman  among  us  could  not  have 
foreseen  what  was  to  follow. 

"  The  three  of  us — my  two  brothers  and  myself — had 
crossed  over  to  the  islands  about  two  o'clock  p.  m.,  and 
had  soon  nearly  loaded  the  smack  with  fine  fish,  which, 
we  all  remarked,  were  more  plentiful  that  day  than  we 
had  ever  known  them.  It  was  just  seven  by  my  watch 
when  we  weighed  and  started  for  home,  so  as  to  make 
the  worst  of  the  Strom  at  slackwater,  which  we  knew 
would  be  at  eight. 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM,          239 

"We  set  out  with  a  fresh  wind  on  our  starboard 
quarter,  and  for  some  time  spanked  along  at  a  great 
rate,  never  dreaming  of  danger,  for  indeed  we  saw  not 
the  slightest  reason  to  apprehend  it.  All  at  once  we 
were  taken  aback  by  a  breeze  from  over  Helseggen. 
This  was  most  unusual — something  that  had  never 
happened  to  us  before — and  I  began  to  feel  a  little 
uneasy  without  exactly  knowing  why.  We  put  the 
boat  on  the  wind,  but  could  make  no  headway  at  all 
for  the  eddies,  and  I  was  put  upon  the  point  of  pro- 
posing to  return  to  the  anchorage,  when,  looking  astern, 
we  saw  the  whole  horizon  covered  with  a  singular 
copper-colored  cloud  that  rose  with  the  most  amazing 
velocity. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  breeze  that  had  headed  us  off 
fell  away,  and  we  were  dead  becalmed,  drifting  about 
in  every  direction.  This  state  of  things,  however,  did 
not  last  long  enough  to  give  us  time  to  think  about  it. 
In  less  than  a  minute  the  storm  was  upon  us — in  less 
than  two  the  sky  was  entirely  overcast — and  what  with 
this  and  the  driving  spray  it  became  suddenly  so  dark 
that  we  could  not  see  each  other  in  the  smack. 

"  Such  a  hurricane  as  then  blew  it  is  folly  to  attempt 
describing.  The  oldest  seaman  in  Norway  never  experi- 
enced anything  like  it.  We  had  let  our  sails  go  by  the 
run  before  it  cleverly  took  us;  but,  at  the  first  puff, 
both  our  masts  went  by  the  board  as  if  they  had  been 
sawed  off — the  mainmast  taking  with  it  my  youngest 
brother,  who  had  lashed  himself  to  it  for  safety. 

"  Our  boat  was  the  lightest  feather  of  a  thing  that 
ever  sat  upon  water.  It  had  a  complete  flush  deck, 
with  only  a  small  hatch  near  the  bow,  and  this  hatch 
it  had  always  been  our  custom  to  batten  down  when 
about  to  cross  the  Strom  by  way  of  precaution  against 


240         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

the  chopping  seas.  But  for  this  circumstance  we  should 
have  foundered  at  once — for  we  lay  entirely  buried  for 
some  moments.  How  my  elder  brother  escaped  destruc- 
tion I  cannot  say,  for  I  never  had  an  opportunity  of 
ascertaining.  For  my  part,  as  soon  as  I  had  let  the  fore- 
sail run,  I  threw  myself  flat  on  deck,  with  my  feet 
against  the  narrow  gunwale  of  the  bow,  and  with  my 
hands  grasping  a  ring-bolt  near  the  foot  of  the  fore-mast. 
It  was  mere  instinct  that  prompted  me  to  do  this — 
which  was  undoubtedly  the  very  best  thing  I  could  have 
done — for  I  was  too  much  flurried  to  think. 

"  For  some  moments  we  were  completely  deluged,  as 
I  say,  and  all  this  time  I  held  my  breath,  and  clung  to 
the  bolt.  "When  I  could  stand  it  no  longer  I  raised 
myself  upon  my  knees,  still  keeping  hold  with  my 
hands,  and  thus  got  my  head  clear.  Presently  our  little 
boat  gave  herself  a  shake,  just  as  a  dog  does  in  coming 
out  of  the  water,  and  thus  rid  herself  in  some  measure 
of  the  seas.  I  was  now  trying  to  get  the  better  of  the 
stupor  that  had  come  over  me,  and  to  collect  my  senses 
so  as  to  see  what  was  to  be  done,  when  I  felt  somebody 
grasp  my  arm.  It  was  my  elder  brother,  and  my 
heart  leaped  for  joy,  for  I  had  made  sure  that  he  was 
overboard — but  the  next  moment  all  this  joy  was  turned 
into  horror — for  he  put  his  mouth  close  to  my  ear,  and 
screamed  out  the  word  '  MosJcoe-strom  ! ' 

"  No  one  ever  will  know  what  my  feelings  were  at 
that  moment.  I  shook  from  head  to  foot,  as  if  I  had 
had  the  most  violent  fit  of  the  ague.  I  knew  what  he 
meant  by  that  one  word  well  enough — I  knew  what  he 
wished  to  make  me  understand.  With  the  wind  that 
now  drove  us  on  we  were  bound  for  the  whirl  of  the 
Strom,  and  nothing  could  save  us  I 

"  You  perceive  that  in  crossing  the  Strom  channel, 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.  241 

we  always  went  a  long  way  up  above  the  whirl,  even 
in  the  calmest  weather,  and  then  had  to  wait  and  watch 
carefully  for  the  slack — but  now  we  were  driving  right 
upon  the  pool  itself,  and  in  such  a  hurricane  as  this ! 
'  To  be  sure,'  I  thought, '  we  shall  get  there  just  about 
the  slack — there  is  some  little  hope  in  that ' — but  in  the 
next  moment  I  cursed  myself  for  being  so  great  a 
fool  as  to  dream  of  hope  at  all.  I  knew  very  well 
that  we  were  doomed  had  we  been  ten  times  a  ninety- 
gun  ship. 

"  By  this  time  the  first  fury  of  the  tempest  had  spent 
itself,  or  perhaps  we  did  not  feel  it  so  much  as  we 
scudded  before  it,  but  at  all  events  the  seas,  which  at 
first  had  been  kept  down  by  the  wind  and  lay  flat  and 
frothing,  now  got  up  into  absolute  mountains.  A 
singular  change,  too,  had  come  over  the  heavens. 
Around  in  every  direction  it  was  still  as  black  as  pitch, 
but  nearly  overhead  there  burst  out,  all  at  once,  a 
circular  rift  of  clear  sky — as  clear  as  I  ever  saw,  and 
of  a  deep  bright  blue — and  through  it  there  blazed 
forth  the  full  moon  with  a  lustre  that  I  never  before 
knew  her  to  wear.  She  lit  up  everything  about  us 
with  the  greatest  distinctness — but  O  God,  what  a 
scene  it  was  to  light  up ! 

"  I  now  made  one  or  two  attempts  to  speak  to  my 
brother — but,  in  some  manner  which  I  could  not 
understand,  the  din  had  so  increased  that  I  could  not 
make  him  hear  a  single  word,  although  I  screamed  at 
the  top  of  my  voice  in  his  ear.  Presently  he  shook  his 
head,  looking  as  pale  as  death,  and  held  up  one  of  his 
fingers  as  if  to  say  '  listen ! ' 

"  At  first  I  could  not  make  out  what  he  meant — but 
soon  a  hideous  thought  flashed  upon  me.  I  dragged 
my  watch  from  its  fob.  It  was  not  going.  I  glanced 
Vol.  I.-16. 


242         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

at  its  face  by  the  moonlight,  and  then  burst  into  tears 
as  I  flung  it  far  away  into  the  ocean.  It  had  run  down 
at  seven  o'clock  !  We  were  behind  the  time  of  the  slack, 
and  the  whirl  of  the  Strom  was  in  full  fury  t 

"  When  a  boat  is  well  built,  properly  trimmed,  and 
not  deep  laden,  the  waves  in  a  strong  gale,  when  she  is 
going  large,  seem  always  to  slip  from  beneath  her — 
which  appears  very  strange  to  a  landsman — and  this  is 
what  is  called  riding,  in  sea-phrase.  Well,  so  far  we 
had  ridden  the  swells  very  cleverly,  but  presently  a 
gigantic  sea  happened  to  take  us  right  under  the 
counter,  and  bore  us  with  it  as  it  rose — up — up — as  if 
into  the  sky.  I  would  not  have  believed  that  any  wave 
could  rise  so  high.  And  then  down  we  came  with  a 
sweep,  a  slide,  and  a  plunge,  that  made  me  feel  sick 
and  dizzy,  as  if  I  was  falling  from  some  lofty  moun- 
tain-top in  a  dream.  But  while  we  were  up  I  had 
thrown  a  quick  glance  around — and  that  one  glance 
was  all-sufficient.  I  saw  our  exact  position  in  an  in- 
stant. The  Moskoe-strom  whirlpool  was  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  dead  ahead — but  no  more  like  the  every- 
day Moskoe-strom,  than  the  whirl  as  you  now  see  it  is 
like  a  mill-race.  If  I  had  not  known  where  we  were, 
and  what  we  had  to  expect,  I  should  not  have  recog- 
nized the  place  at  all.  As  it  was,  I  involuntarily  closed 
my  eyea  in  horror.  The  lids  clenched  themselves 
together  as  if  in  a  spasm. 

"It  could  not  have  been  more  than  two  minutes 
afterward  until  we  suddenly  felt  the  waves  subside, 
and  were  enveloped  in  foam.  The  boat  made  a  sharp 
half  turn  to  larboard,  and  then  shot  off  in  its  new 
direction  like  a  thunderbolt.  At  the  same  moment 
the  roaring  noise  of  the  water  was  completely  drowned 
in  a  kind  of  shrill  shriek — such  a  sound  as  you  might 


243 

imagine  given  out  by  the  waste  pipes  of  many  thousand 
steam  vessels  letting  off  their  steam  altogether.  We 
were  now  in  the  belt  of  surf  that  always  surrounds  the 
whirl ;  and  I  thought  of  course  that  another  moment 
would  plunge  us  into  the  abyss — down  which  we  could 
only  see  indistinctly  on  account  of  the  amazing  velocity 
with  which  we  were  borne  along.  The  boat  did  not 
seem  to  sink  into  the  water  at  all,  but  to  skim  like  an 
air-bubble  upon  the  surface  of  the  surge.  Her  starboard 
side  was  next  the  whirl,  and  on  the  larboard  arose  the 
world  of  ocean  we  had  left.  It  stood  like  a  huge  writh- 
ing wall  between  us  and  the  horizon. 

"  It  may  appear  strange,  but  now,  when  we  were  in 
the  very  jaws  of  the  gulf,  I  felt  more  composed  than 
when  we  were  only  approaching  it.  Having  made  up 
my  mind  to  hope  no  more,  I  got  rid  of  a  great  deal  of 
that  terror  which  unmanned  me  at  first.  I  suppose  it 
was  despair  that  strung  my  nerves. 

"  It  may  look  like  boasting — but  what  I  tell  you  is 
truth — I  began  to  reflect  how  magnificent  a  thing  it  was 
to  die  in  such  a  manner,  and  how  foolish  it  was  in  me  to 
think  of  so  paltry  a  consideration  as  my  own  individual 
life  in  view  of  so  wonderful  a  manifestation  of  God's 
power.  I  do  believe  that  I  blushed  with  shame  when 
this  idea  crossed  my  mind.  After  a  little  while  I  became 
possessed  with  the  keenest  curiosity  about  the  whirl 
itself.  I  positively  felt  a  wish  to  explore  its  depths, 
even  at  the  sacrifice  I  was  going  to  make ;  and  my 
principal  grief  was  that  I  should  never  be  able  to  tell 
my  old  companions  on  shore  about  the  mysteries  I 
should  see.  These,  no  doubt,  were  singular  fancies  to 
occupy  a  man's  mind  in  such  extremity,  and  I  have  often 
thought  since  that  the  revolutions  of  the  boat  around 
the  pool  might  have  rendered  me  a  little  light-headed. 


244         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

"There  was  another  circumstance  which  tended  to 
restore  my  self-possession,  and  this  was  the  cessation  of 
the  wind,  which  could  not  reach  us  in  our  present  situa- 
tion— for,  as  you  saw  yourself,  the  belt  of  surf  is  con- 
siderably lower  than  the  general  bed  of  the  ocean,  and 
this  latter  now  towered  above  us,  a  high,  black,  moun- 
tainous ridge.  If  you  have  never  been  at  sea  in  a  heavy 
gale  you  can  form  no  idea  of  the  confusion  of  mind 
occasioned  by  the  wind  and  spray  together.  They 
blind,  deafen,  and  strangle  you,  and  take  away  all  power 
of  action  or  reflection.  But  we  were  now,  in  a  great 
measure,  rid  of  these  annoyances — just  as  death-con- 
demned felons  in  prison  are  allowed  petty  indulgences, 
forbidden  them  while  their  doom  is  yet  uncertain. 

"  How  often  we  made  the  circuit  of  the  belt  it  is 
impossible  to  say.  We  careered  round  and  round  for 
perhaps  an  hour,  flying  rather  than  floating,  getting 
gradually  more  and  more  into  the  middle  of  the  surge, 
and  then  nearer  and  nearer  to  its  horrible  inner  edge. 
All  this  time  I  had  never  let  go  of  the  ring-bolt.  My 
brother  was  at  the  stern,  holding  on  to  a  small  empty 
water-cask  which  had  been  securely  lashed  under  the 
coop  of  the  counter,  and  was  the  only  thing  on  deck 
that  had  not  been  swept  overboard  when  the  gale  first 
took  us.  As  we  approached  the  brink  of  the  pit  he 
let  go  his  hold  upon  this,  and  made  for  the  ring,  from 
which,  in  the  agony  of  his  terror,  he  endeavored  to 
force  my  hands,  as  it  was  not  large  enough  to  afford 
us  both  a  secure  grasp.  I  never  felt  deeper  grief  than 
when  I  saw  him  attempt  this  act — although  I  knew  he 
was  a  madman  when  he  did  it — a  raving  maniac 
through  sheer  fright.  I  did  not  care,  however,  to 
contest  the  point  with  him.  I  knew  it  could  make  no 
difference  whether  either  of  us  held  on  at  all,  so  I  let 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.          245 

him  have  the  bolt,  and  went  astern  to  the  cask.  This 
there  was  no  great  difficulty  in  doing,  for  the  smack  flew 
round  steadily  enough,  and  upon  an  even  keel,  only 
swaying  to  and  fro  with  the  immense  sweeps  and 
swelters  of  the  whirl.  Scarcely  had  I  secured  myself 
in  my  new  position  when  we  gave  a  wild  lurch  to  star- 
board, and  rushed  headlong  into  the  abyss.  I  muttered 
a  hurried  prayer  to  God,  and  thought  all  was  over. 

"  As  I  felt  the  sickening  sweep  of  the  descent  I  had 
instinctively  tightened  my  hold  upon  the  barrel,  and 
closed  my  eyes.  For  some  seconds  I  dared  not  open 
them,  while  I  expected  instant  destruction,  and  won- 
dered that  I  was  not  already  in  my  death  struggles  with 
the  water.  But  moment  after  moment  clasped.  I  still 
lived.  The  sense  of  falling  had  ceased ;  and  the  motion 
of  the  vessel  seemed  much  as  it  had  been  before  while 
in  the  belt  of  foam,  with  the  exception  that  she  now  lay 
more  along.  I  took  courage,  and  looked  once  again  upon 
the  scene. 

"  Never  shall  I  forget  the  sensations  of  awe,  horror, 
and  admiration  with  which  I  gazed  about  me.  The 
boat  appeared  to  be  hanging,  as  if  by  magic,  midway 
down,  upon  the  interior  surface  of  a  funnel  vast  in 
circumference,  prodigious  in  depth,  and  whose  perfectly 
smooth  sides  might  have  been  mistaken  for  ebony  but 
for  the  bewildering  rapidity  with  which  they  spun 
around,  and  for  the  gleaming  and  ghastly  radiance  they 
shot  forth,  as  the  rays  of  the  full  moon,  from  that  cir- 
cular rift  amid  the  clouds  which  I  have  already  de- 
scribed, streamed  in  a  flood  of  golden  glory  along  the 
black  walls,  and  far  away  down  into  the  inmost  recesses 
of  the  abyss. 

"  At  first  I  was  too  much  confused  to  observe  any- 
thing accurately.  The  general  burst  of  terrific  grandeur 


246         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

was  all  that  I  beheld.  When  I  recovered  myself  a  little, 
however,  my  gaze  fell  instinctively  downward.  In  this 
direction  I  was  able  to  obtain  an  unobstructed  view  from 
the  manner  in  which  the  smack  hung  on  the  inclined 
surface  of  the  pool.  She  was  quite  upon  an  even  keel 
— that  is  to  say,  her  deck  lay  in  a  plane  parallel  with 
that  of  the  water — but  this  latter  sloped  at  an  angle  of 
more  than  fifty-five  degrees,  so  that  we  seemed  to  be 
lying  upon  our  beam  ends.  I  could  not  help  observing, 
nevertheless,  that  I  had  scarcely  more  difficulty  in  main- 
taining my  hold  and  footing  in  this  situation  than  if 'we 
had  been  upon  a  dead  level,  and  this,  I  suppose,  was 
owing  to  the  speed  at  which  we  revolved. 

The  rays  of  the  moon  seemed  to  search  the  very 
bottom  of  the  profound  gulf;  but  still  I  could  make 
out  nothing  distinctly,  on  account  of  a  thick  mist  in 
which  everything  there  was  enveloped,  and  over  which 
there  hung  a  magnificent  rainbow,  like  that  narrow  and 
tottering  bridge  which  Mussulmans  say  is  the  only  path- 
way between  Time  and  Eternity.  This  mist  or  spray 
was  no  doubt  occasioned  by  the  clashing  of  the  great 
walls  of  the  funnel  as  they  all  met  together  at  the 
bottom,  but  the  yell  that  went  up  to  the  heavens  from 
out  of  that  mist  I  dare  not  attempt  to  describe. 

"  Our  first  slide  into  the  abyss  itself,  from  the  belt  of 
foam  above,  had  carried  us  a  great  distance  down  the 
slope,  but  our  farther  descent  was  by  no  means  pro- 
portionate. Round  and  round  we  swept — not  with  any 
uniform  movement — but  in  dizzying  swings  and  jerks, 
that  sent  us  sometimes  only  a  few  hundred  yards — 
sometimes  nearly  the  complete  circuit  of  the  whirl. 
Our  progress  downward  at  each  revolution  was  slow  but 
very  perceptible. 

"  Looking   about   me   upon  the  wide  waste  of  liquid 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.          247 

ebony  on  which  we  were  thus  borne,  I  perceived  that 
our  boat  was  not  the  only  object  in  the  embrace  of  the 
whirl.  Both  above  and  below  us  were  visible  fragments 
of  vessels,  large  masses  of  building  timber  and  trunks  of 
trees,  with  many  smaller  articles,  such  as  pieces  of  house 
furniture,  broken  boxes,  barrels  and  staves.  I  have 
already  described  the  unnatural  curiosity  which  had 
taken  the  place  of  my  original  terrors.  It  appeared  to 
grow  upon  me  as  I  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  my 
dreadful  doom.  I  now  began  to  watch,  with  a  strange 
interest,  the  numerous  things  that  floated  in  our  com- 
pany. I  must  have  been  delirious,  for  I  even  sought 
amusement  in  speculating  upon  the  relative  velocities  of 
their  several  descents  toward  the  foam  below.  'This 
fir-tree,'  I  found  myself  at  one  time  saying,  '  will  cer- 
tainly be  the  next  thing  that  takes  the  awful  plunge  and 
disappears,' — and  then  I  was  disappointed  to  find  that 
the  wreck  of  a  Dutch  merchant  ship  overtook  it  and 
went  down  before.  At  length,  after  making  several 
guesses  of  this  nature,  and  being  deceived  in  all,  this 
fact — the  fact  of  my  invariable  miscalculation — set  me 
upon  a  train  of  reflection  that  made  my  limbs  again 
tremble,  and  my  heart  beat  heavily  once  more. 

"It  was  not  a  new  terror  that  thus  affected  me,  but 
the  dawn  of  a  more  exciting  hope.  This  hope  arose 
partly  from  memory,  and  partly  from  present  observa- 
tion. I  called  to  mind  the  great  variety  of  buoyant 
matter  that  strewed  the  coast  of  Lofoden,  having 
been  absorbed  and  then  thrown  forth  by  the  Moskoe- 
strom.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  articles 
were  shattered  in  the  most  extraordinary  way — so 
chafed  and  roughened  as  to  have  the  appearance  of 
being  stuck  full  of  splinters — but  then  I  distinctly 
recollected  that  there  were  some  of  them  which  were 


248         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

not  disfigured  at  all.  Now  I  could  not  account  for  this 
difference  except  by  supposing  that  the  roughened  frag- 
ments were  the  only  ones  which  had  been  completely 
absorbed — that  the  others  had  entered  the  whirl  at  so 
late  a  period  of  the  tide,  or,  for  some  reason,  had 
descended  so  slowly  after  entering,  that  they  did  not 
reach  the  bottom  before  the  turn  of  the  flood  came,  or  of 
the  ebb,  as  the  case  might  be.  I  conceived  it  possible, 
in  either  instance,  that  they  might  thus  be  whirled  up 
again  to  the  level  of  the  ocean,  without  undergoing  the 
fate  of  those  which  had  been  drawn  in  more  early,  or 
absorbed  more  rapidly.  I  made  also,  three  important 
observations.  The  first  was  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the 
larger  the  bodies  were  the  more  rapid  their  descent ;  the 
second,  that,  between  two  masses  of  equal  extent,  the 
one  spherical  and  the  other  of  any  other  shape,  the 
superiority  in  speed  of  descent  was  with  the  sphere ;  the 
third,  that,  between  two  masses  of  equal  size,  the  one 
cylindrical  and  the  other  of  any  other  shape,  the  cylinder 
was  absorbed  the  more  slowly.  Since  my  escape  I  have 
had  several  conversations  on  this  subject  with  an  old 
schoolmaster  of  the  district,  and  it  was  from  him  that  I 
learned  the  use  of  the  words  'cylinder'  and  'sphere.' 
He  explained  to  me — although  I  have  forgotten  the 
explanation — how  what  I  observed  was  in  fact  the 
natural  consequence  of  the  forms  of  the  floating  frag- 
ments, and  showed  me  how  it  happened  that  a  cylinder 
swimming  in  a  vortex  offered  more  resistance  to  its 
suction,  and  was  drawn  in  with  greater  difficulty  than  an 
equally  bulky  body  of  any  form  whatever.* 

"  There  was  one  startling  circumstance  which  went  a 
great  way  in  enforcing  these  observations  and  rendering 
me  anxious  to  turn  them  to  account,  and  this  was  that 

•See  Archimedes  "  De  Incidentibtts  in  Fluido"—W).  2. 


A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM.          249 

at  every  revolution  we  passed  something  like  a  barrel,  or 
else  the  yard  or  the  mast  of  a  vessel,  while  many  of  these 
things  which  had  been  on  our  level,  when  I  first  opened 
my  eyes  upon  the  wonders  of  the  whirlpool  were  now 
high  up  above  us,  and  seemed  to  have  moved  but  little 
from  their  original  station. 

"  I  no  longer  hesitated  what  to  do.  I  resolved  to  lash 
myself  securely  to  the  water-cask  upon  which  I  now  held, 
to  cut  it  loose  from  the  counter,  and  to  throw  myself 
with  it  into  the  water.  I  attracted  my  brother's  atten- 
tion by  signs,  pointed  to  the  floating  barrels  that  came 
near  us,  and  did  everything  in  my  power  to  make  him 
understand  what  I  was  about  to  do.  I  thought  at  length 
that  he  comprehended  my  design,  but  whether  this  was 
the  case  or  not,  he  shook  his  head  despairingly,  and 
refused  to  move  from  his  station  by  the  ring-bolt.  It 
was  impossible  to  reach  him,  the  emergency  admitted  of 
no  delay,  and  so,  with  a  bitter  struggle,  I  resigned  him 
to  his  fate,  fastened  myself  to  the  cask  by  means  of  the 
lashings  which  secured  it  to  the  counter,  and  precipitated 
myself  with  it  into  the  sea  without  another  moment's 
hesitation. 

"  The  result  was  precisely  what  I  had  hoped  it  might 
be.  As  it  is  myself  who  now  tell  you  this  tale — as  you 
see  that  I  did  escape — and  as  you  are  already  in  posses- 
sion of  the  mode  in  which  this  escape  was  eifected,  and 
must  therefore  anticipate  all  that  I  have  further  to  say, 
I  will  bring  my  story  quickly  to  conclusion.  It  might 
have  been  an  hour  or  thereabout  after  my  quitting  the 
smack,  when,  having  descended  to  a  vast  distance  be- 
neath me,  it  made  three  or  four  wild  gyrations  in  rapid 
succession,  and,  bearing  my  loved  brother  with  it, 
plunged  headlong  at  once  and  for  ever  into  the  chaos  of 
foam  below.  The  barrel  to  which  I  was  attached  sunk 


250         A  DESCENT  INTO  THE  MAELSTROM. 

very  little  farther  than  half  the  distance  between  the 
bottom  of  the  gulf  and  the  spot  at  which  I  leaped  over- 
board, before  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  character 
of  the  whirlpool.  The  slope  of  the  sides  of  the  vast 
funnel  became  momently  less  and  less  steep.  The  gyra- 
tions of  the  whirl  grew  gradually  less  and  less  violent. 
By  degrees  the  froth  and  the  rainbow  disappeared,  and 
the  bottom  of  the  gulf  seemed  slowly  to  uprise.  The  sky 
was  clear,  the  winds  had  gone  down,  and  the  full  moon 
was  setting  radiantly  in  the  west,  when  I  found  myself 
on  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  in  full  view  of  the  shores  of 
Lofoden,  and  above  the  spot  where  the  pool  of  the 
Moskoe-strom  had  been.  It  was  the  hour  of  the  slack — 
but  the  sea  still  heaved  in  mountainous  waves  from  the 
effects  of  the  hurricane.  I  was  borne  violently  into  the 
channel  of  the  Strom,  and  in  a  few  minutes  was  hurried 
down  the  coast  into  the  '  grounds '  of  the  fishermen.  A 
boat  picked  me  up,  exhausted  from  fatigue  and  (now 
that  the  danger  was  removed)  speechless  from  the 
memory  of  its  horror.  Those  who  drew  me  on  board 
were  my  old  mates  and  daily  companions,  but  they 
knew  me  no  more  than  they  would  have  known  a 
traveler  from  the  spirit-land.  My  hair,  which  had  been 
raven-black  the  day  before,  was  as  white  as  you  see  it 
now.  They  say,  too,  that  the  whole  expression  of  my 
countenance  had  changed.  I  told  them  my  story — they 
did  not  believe  it.  I  now  tell  it  to  you,  and  I  can 
scarcely  expect  you  to  put  more  faith  in  it  than  did  the 
merry  fishermen  of  Lofoden." 


iLACK  CAT 


THE  BLACK  CAT 


THE  BLACK  CAT. 

For  the  most  wild,  yet  most  homely  narrative  which 
I  am  about  to  pen,  I  neither  expect  nor  solicit  belief. 
Mad  indeed  would  I  be  to  expect  it  in  a  case  where  my 
very  senses  reject  their  own  evidence.  Yet  mad  am  I 
not — and  very  surely  do  I  not  dream.  But  to-morrow 
I  die,  and  to-day  I  would  unburthen  my  soul.  My 
immediate  purpose  is  to  place  before  the  world  plainly, 
succinctly,  and  without  comment,  a  series  of  mere  house- 
hold events.  In  their  consequences  these  events  have 
terrified — have  tortured — have  destroyed  me.  Yet  I 
will  not  attempt  to  expound  them.  To  me  they  have 
presented  little  but  Horror — to  many  they  will  seem 
less  terrible  than  baroques.  Hereafter,  perhaps,  some 
intellect  may  be  found  which  will  reduce  my  phantasm 
to  the  commonplace — some  intellect  more  calm,  more 
logical,  and  far  less  excitable  than  my  own,  which  will 
perceive,  in  the  circumstances  I  detail  with  awe,  nothing 
more  than  an  ordinary  succession  of  very  natural  causes 
and  effects. 

From  my  infancy  I  was  noted  for  the  docility  and 
humanity  of  my  disposition.  My  tenderness  of  heart 
was  even  so  conspicuous  as  to  make  me  the  jest  of  my 
companions.  I  was  especially  fond  of  animals,  and  was 
indulged  by  my  parents  with  a  great  variety  of  pets. 
With  these  I  spent  most  of  my  time,  and  never  was  so 
happy  as  when  feeding  and  caressing  them.  This 
peculiarity  of  character  grew  with  my  growth,  and  in 
(251) 


252  THE  BLACK  CAT. 

my  manhood  I  derived  from  it  one  of  my  principal 
sources  of  pleasure.  To  those  who  have  cherished  an 
affection  for  a  faithful  and  sagacious  dog,  I  need  hardly 
be  at  the  trouble  of  explaining  the  nature  or  the  in- 
tensity of  the  gratification  thus  derivable.  There  is 
something  in  the  unselfish  and  self-sacrificing  love  of  a 
brute  which  goes  directly  to  the  heart  of  him  who  has 
had  frequent  occasion  to  test  the  paltry  friendship  and 
gossamer  fidelity  of  mere  Man. 

I  married  early,  and  was  happy  to  find  in  my  wife  a 
disposition  not  uncongenial  with  my  own.  Observing 
my  partiality  for  domestic  pets,  she  lost  no  opportunity 
of  procuring  those  of  the  most  agreeable  kind.  We 
had  birds,  gold-fish,  a  fine  dog,  rabbits,  a  small  monkey, 
and  a  cat. 

This  latter  was  a  remarkably  large  and  beautiful 
animal,  entirely  black,  and  sagacious  to  an  astonishing 
degree.  In  speaking  of  his  intelligence,  my  wife,  who 
at  heart  was  not  a  little  tinctured  with  superstition, 
made  frequent  allusion  to  the  ancient  popular  notion 
which  regarded  all  black  cats  as  witches  in  disguise. 
Not  that  she  was  ever  serious  upon  this  point,  and  I 
mention  the  matter  at  all  for  no  better  reason  than  that 
it  happens  just  now  to  be  remembered. 

Pluto — this  was  the  cat's  name — was  my  favorite  pet 
and  playmate.  I  alone  fed  him,  and  he  attended  me 
wherever  I  went  about  the  house.  It  was  even  with 
difficulty  that  I  could  prevent  him  from  following  me 
through  the  streets. 

Our  friendship  lasted  in  this  manner  for  several  years, 
during  which  my  general  temperament  and  character 
— through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Fiend  intemper- 
ance— had  (I  blush  to  confess  it)  experienced  a  radical 
alteration  for  the  worse.  I  grew,  day  by  day,  more 


THE  BLACK  CAT.  253 

moody,  more  irritable,  more  regardless  of  the  feelings 
of  others.  I  suffered  myself  to  use  intemperate  language 
to  my  wife.  At  length,  I  even  offered  her  personal 
violence.  My  pets  of  course  were  made  to  feel  the 
change  in  my  disposition.  I  not  only  neglected,  but 
ill-used  them.  For  Pluto,  however,  I  still  retained  suffi- 
cient regard  to  restrain  me  from  maltreating  him,  as  I 
made  no  scruple  of  maltreating  the  rabbits,  the  monkey, 
or  even  the  dog,  when  by  accident,  or  through  affection 
they  came  in  my  way.  But  my  disease  grew  upon  me 
— for  what  disease  is  like  Alcohol ! — and  at  length  even 
Pluto,  who  was  now  becoming  old,  and  consequently 
somewhat  peevish — even  Pluto  began  to  experience  the 
effects  of  my  ill-temper. 

One  night  returning  home  much  intoxicated  from 
one  of  my  haunts  about  town,  I  fancied  that  the  cat 
avoided  my  presence.  I  seized  him,  when,  in  his  fright 
at  my  violence,  he  inflicted  a  slight  wound  upon  my 
hand  with  his  teeth.  The  fury  of  a  demon  instantly 
possessed  me.  I  knew  myself  no  longer.  My  original 
soul  seemed  at  once  to  take  its  flight  from  my  body,  and 
a  more  than  fiendish  malevolence,  gin-nurtured,  thrilled 
every  fibre  of  my  frame.  I  took  from  my  waistcoat 
pocket  a  penknife,  opened  it,  grasped  the  poor  beast 
by  the  throat,  and  deliberately  cut  one  of  its  eyes  from 
the  socket !  I  blush,  I  burn,  I  shudder,  while  I  pen  the 
damnable  atrocity. 

When  reason  returned  with  the  morning — when  I  had 
slept  off  the  fumes  of  the  night's  debauch — I  experienced 
a  sentiment  half  of  horror,  half  of  remorse,  for  the  crime 
of  which  I  had  been  guilty,  but  it  was  at  best  a  feeble 
and  equivocal  feeling,  and  the  soul  remained  untouched. 
I  again  plunged  into  excess,  and  soon  drowned  in  wine 
all  memory  of  the  deed. 


254  THE  BLACK  CAT. 

In  the  meantime  the  cat  slowly  recovered.  The 
socket  of  the  lost  eye  presented,  it  is  true,  a  frightful 
appearance,  but  he  no  longer  appeared  to  suffer  any 
pain.  He  went  about  the  house  as  usual,  but,  as  might 
be  expected,  fled  in  extreme  terror  at  my  approach.  I 
had  so  much  of  my  old  heart  left  as  to  be  at  first  grieved 
by  this  evident  dislike  on  the  part  of  a  creature  which 
had  once  so  loved  me.  But  this  feeling  soon  gave  place 
to  irritation.  And  then  came,  as  if  to  my  final  and 
irrevocable  overthrow,  the  spirit  of  PERVERSENESS. 
Of  this  spirit  philosophy  takes  no  account.  Yet  I  am 
not  more  sure  that  my  soul  lives  than  that  I  am  that  per- 
verseness  is  one  of  the  primitive  impulses  of  the  human 
heart — one  of  the  indivisible  primary  faculties  or  senti- 
ments which  gave  direction  to  the  character  of  Man. 
Who  has  not,  a  hundred  times,  found  himself  committing 
a  vile  or  silly  action  for  no  other  reason  than  because 
he  knows  he  should  not?  Have  we  not  a  perpetual 
inclination,  in  the  teeth  of  our  best  judgment,  to  violate 
that  which  is  Law,  merely  because  we  understand  it  to 
be  such?  This  spirit  of  perverseness,  I  say,  came  to 
my  final  overthrow.  It  was  this  unfathomable  longing 
of  the  soul  to  vex  itself — to  offer  violence  to  its  own 
nature — to  do  wrong  for  the  wrong's  sake  only — that 
urged  me  to  continue  and  finally  to  consummate  the 
injury  I  had  inflicted  upon  the  unoffending  brute.  One 
morning  in  cool  blood,  I  slipped  a  noose  about  its  neck 
and  hung  it  to  a  limb  of  a  tree ; — hung  it  with  the 
tears  streaming  from  my  eyes,  and  with  the  bitterest 
remorse  at  my  heart;  hung  it  because  I  knew  that  it 
had  loved  me,  and  because  I  felt  it  had  given  me  no 
reason  of  offence ;  hung  it  because  I  knew  that  in  so 
doing  I  was  committing  a  sin — a  deadly  sin  that  would 
so  jeopardize  my  immortal  soul  as  to  place  it,  if  such  a 


THE  BLACK  CAT.  255 

thing  were  possible,  even  beyond  the  reach  of  the  infi- 
nite mercy  of  the  Most  Merciful  and  Most  Terrible  God. 

On  the  night  of  the  day  on  which  this  cruel  deed  was 
done,  I  was  aroused  from  sleep  by  the  cry  of  fire.  The 
curtains  of  my  bed  were  in  flames.  The  whole  house 
was  blazing.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  my  wife, 
a  servant,  and  myself,  made  our  escape  from  the  con- 
flagration. The  destruction  was  complete.  My  entire 
worldly  wealth  was  swallowed  up,  and  I  resigned  myself 
thenceforward  to  despair. 

I  am  above  the  weakness  of  seeking  to  establish  a 
sequence  of  cause  and  effect  between  the  disaster  and 
the  atrocity.  But  I  am  detailing  a  chain  of  facts,  and 
wish  not  to  leave  even  a  possible  link  imperfect.  On 
the  day  succeeding  the  fire,  I  visited  the  ruins.  The 
walls  with  one  exception  had  fallen  in.  This  exception 
was  found  in  a  compartment  wall,  not  very  thick,  which 
stood  about  the  middle  of  the  house,  and  against  which 
had  rested  the  head  of  my  bed.  The  plastering  had 
here  in  great  measure  resisted  the  action  of  the  fire,  a 
fact  which  I  attributed  to  its  having  been  recently 
spread.  About  this  wall  a  dense  cjrowd  were  collected, 
and  many  persons  seemed  to  be  examining  a  particular 
portion  of  it  with  very  minute  and  eager  attention. 
The  words  "  strange ! "  "  singular  1 "  and  other  similar 
expressions,  excited  my  curiosity.  I  approached  and 
saw,  as  if  graven  in  bos  relief  upon  the  white  surface, 
the  figure  of  a  gigantic  cat.  The  impression  was  given 
with  an  accuracy  truly  marvelous.  There  was  a  rope 
about  the  animal's  neck. 

When  I  first  beheld  this  apparition — for  I  could 
scarcely  regard  it  as  less — my  wonder  and  my  terror 
were  extreme.  But  at  length  reflection  came  to  my 
aid.  The  cat,  I  remembered,  had  been  hung  in  a 


256  THE  BLACK  GAT. 

garden  adjacent  to  the  house.  Upon  the  alarm  of  fire, 
this  garden  had  been  immediately  filled  by  the  crowd, 
by  some  one  of  whom  the  animal  must  have  been  cut 
from  the  tree  and  thrown  through  an  open  window  into 
my  chamber.  This  had  probably  been  done  with  the 
view  of  arousing  me  from  sleep.  The  falling  of  other 
walls  had  compressed  the  victim  of  my  cruelty  into 
the  substance  of  the  freshly  -  spread  plaster;  the  lime 
of  which,  with  the  flames  and  the  ammonia  from  the 
carcass,  had  then  accomplished  the  portraiture  as  I 
saw  it. 

Although  I  thus  readily  accounted  to  my  reason,  if 
not  altogether  to  my  conscience,  for  the  startling  fact 
just  detailed,  it  did  not  the  less  fail  to  make  a  deep 
impression  upon  my  fancy.  For  months  I  could  not 
rid  myself  of  the  phantasm  of  the  cat,  and  during  this 
period  there  came  back  into  my  spirit  a  half-sentiment 
that  seemed,  but  was  not,  remorse.  I  went  so  far  as 
to  regret  the  loss  of  the  animal,  and  to  look  about  me 
among  the  vile  haunts  which  I  now  habitually  fre- 
quented for  another  pet  of  the  same  species,  and  of 
somewhat  similar  appearance,  with  which  to  supply  its 
place. 

One  night  as  I  sat  half-stupefied  in  a  den  of  more 
than  infamy,  my  attention  was  suddenly  drawn  to 
some  black  object,  reposing  upon  the  head  of  one  of  the 
immense  hogsheads  of  gin  or  of  rum,  which  constituted 
the  chief  furniture  of  the  apartment.  I  had  been  look- 
ing steadily  at  the  top  of  this  hogshead  for  some 
minutes,  and  what  now  caused  me  surprise  was  the 
fact  that  I  had  not  sooner  perceived  the  object  there- 
upon. I  approached  it,  and  touched  it  with  my  hand. 
It  was  a  black  cat — a  very  large  one — fully  as  large  as 
Pluto,  and  closely  resembling  him  in  every  respect  but 


THE  BLACK  CAT.  257 

one.  Pluto  had  not  a  white  hair  upon  any  portion  of 
his  body ;  but  this  cat  had  a  large,  although  indefinite 
splotch  of  white,  covering  nearly  the  whole  region  of 
the  breast. 

Upon  my  touching  him  he  immediately  arose,  purred 
loudly,  rubbed  against  my  hand,  and  appeared  delighted 
with  my  notice.  This,  then,  was  the  very  creature  of 
which  I  was  in  search.  I  at  once  offered  to  purchase  it 
of  the  landlord ;  but  this  person  made  no  claim  to  it — 
knew  nothing  of  it — had  never  seen  it  before. 

I  continued  my  caresses,  and  when  I  prepared  to  go 
home  the  animal  evinced  a  disposition  to  accompany 
me.  I  permitted  it  to  do  so,  occasionally  stooping  and 
patting  it  as  I  proceeded.  When  it  reached  the  house 
it  domesticated  itself  at  once,  and  became  immediately 
a  great  favorite  with  my  wife. 

For  my  own  part,  I  soon  found  a  dislike  to  it  arising 
within  me.  This  was  just  the  reverse  of  what  I 
had  anticipated,  but — I  know  not  how  or  why  it  was 
— its  evident  fondness  for  myself  rather  disgusted  and 
annoyed.  By  slow  degrees  these  feelings  of  disgust 
and  annoyance  rose  into  the  bitterness  of  hatred.  I 
avoided  the  creature;  a  certain  sense  of  shame,  and 
the  remembrance  of  my  former  deed  of  cruelty,  pre- 
venting me  from  physically  abusing  it.  I  did  not,  for 
some  weeks,  strike  or  otherwise  violently  ill-use  it,  but 
gradually — very  gradually — I  came  to  look  upon  it 
with  unutterable  loathing,  and  to  flee  silently  from  its 
odious  presence  as  from  the  breath  of  a  pestilence. 

What  added,  no  doubt,  to  my  hatred  of  the  beast  was 
the  discovery,  on  the  morning  after  I  brought  it  home, 
that,  like  Pluto,  it  also  had  been  deprived  of  one  of  its 
eyes.  This  circumstance,  however,  only  endeared  it  to 
my  wife,  who,  as  I  have  already  said,  possessed  in  a  high 

Vol.  L— 17. 


258  THE  SLACK  CAT. 

degree  that  humanity  of  feeling  which  had  once  been 
my  distinguishing  trait,  and  the  source  of  many  of  my 
simplest  and  purest  pleasures. 

With  my  aversion  to  this  cat,  however,  its  partiality 
for  myself  seemed  to  increase.  It  followed  my  foot- 
steps with  a  pertinacity  which  it  would  be  difficult  to 
make  the  reader  comprehend.  Whenever  I  sat,  it 
would  crouch  beneath  my  chair  or  spring  upon  my 
knees,  covering  me  with  its  loathsome  caresses.  If  I 
arose  to  walk  it  would  get  between  my  feet  and  thus 
nearly  throw  me  down,  or  fastening  its  long  and  sharp 
claws  in  my  dress,  clamber  in  this  manner  to  my 
breast.  At  such  times,  although  I  longed  to  destroy 
it  with  a  blow,  I  was  yet  withheld  from  so  doing, 
partly  by  a  memory  of  my  former  crime,  but  chiefly — 
let  me  confess  it  at  once — by  absolute  dread  of  the 
beast. 

This  dread  was  not  exactly  a  dread  of  physical  evil 
— and  yet  I  should  be  at  a  loss  how  otherwise  to  define 
it.  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  own — yes,  even  in  this 
felon's  cell,  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  own — that  the 
terror  and  horror  with  which  the  animal  inspired  me, 
had  been  heightened  by  one  of  the  merest  chimeras  it 
would  be  possible  to  conceive.  My  wife  had  called 
my  attention  more  than  once  to  the  character  of  the 
mark  of  white  hair,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and 
which  constituted  the  sole  visible  difference  between 
the  strange  beast  and  the  one  I  had  destroyed.  The 
reader  will  remember  that  this  mark,  although  large, 
had  been  originally  very  indefinite,  but  by  slow  degrees 
— degrees  nearly  imperceptible,  and  which  for  a  long 
time  my  reason  struggled  to  reject  as  fanciful — it  had 
at  length  assumed  a  rigorous  distinctness  of  outline. 
It  was  now  the  representation  of  an  object  that  I 


THE  SLACK  CAT.  259 

shudder  to  name — and  for  this  above  all  I  loathed  and 
dreaded,  and  would  have  rid  myself  of  the  monster 
had  I  dared — it  was  now,  I  say,  the  image  of  a  hideous 
—of  a  ghastly  thing — of  the  GALLOWS  ! — Oh,  mournful 
and  terrible  engine  of  horror  and  of  crime — of  agony 
and  of  death ! 

And  now  was  I  indeed  wretched  beyond  the  wretched- 
ness of  mere  humanity.  And  a  brute  beast — whose 
fellow  I  had  contemptuously  destroyed — a  brute  beast  to 
work  out  for  me — for  me  a  man,  fashioned  in  the  image 
of  the  High  God — so  much  of  insufferable  woe !  Alas ! 
neither  by  day  nor  by  night  knew  I  the  blessing  of  rest 
any  more !  During  the  former  the  creature  left  me  no 
moment  alone ;  and  in  the  latter  I  started  hourly  from 
dreams  of  unutterable  fear,  to  find  the  hot  breath  of  the 
thing  upon  my  face,  and  its  vast  weight — an  incarnate 
nightmare  that  I  had  no  power  to  shake  off — incumbent 
eternally  upon  my  heart ! 

Beneath  the  pressure  of  torments  such  as  these,  the 
feeble  remnant  of  the  good  within  me  succumbed.  Evil 
thoughts  became  my  sole  intimates — the  darkest  and  most 
evil  of  thoughts.  The  moodiness  of  my  usual  temper 
increased  to  hatred  of  all  things  and  of  all  mankind ! 
while  from  the  sudden  frequent  and  ungovernable  out- 
bursts of  a  fury  to  which  I  now  blindly  abandoned  my- 
self, my  uncomplaining  wife,  alas !  was  the  most  usual 
and  the  most  patient  of  sufferers. 

One  day  she  accompanied  me  upon  some  household 
errand  into  the  cellar  of  the  old  building  which  our 
poverty  compelled  us  to  inhabit.  The  cat  followed 
me  down  the  steep  stairs,  and  nearly  throwing  me 
headlong,  exasperated  me  to  madness.  Uplifting  an  axe, 
and  forgetting  in  my  wrath  the  childish  dread  which 
had  hitherto  stayed  my  hand,  I  aimed  a  blow  at  the 


260  THE  SLACK  CAT. 

animal,  which  of  course  would  have  proved  instantly 
fatal  had  it  descended  as  I  wished.  But  this  blow  was 
arrested  by  the  hand  of  my  wife.  Goaded  by  the  inter- 
ference into  a  rage  more  than  demoniacal,  I  withdrew 
my  arm  from  her  grasp  and  buried  the  axe  in  her  brain. 
She  fell  dead  upon  the  spot  without  a  groan. 

This  hideous  murder  accomplished,  I  set  myself  forth- 
with and  with  entire  deliberation  to  the  task  of  conceal- 
ing the  body.  I  knew  that  I  could  not  remove  it  from 
the  house,  either  by  day  or  by  night,  without  the  risk  of 
being  observed  by  the  neighbors.  Many  projects  entered 
my  mind.  At  one  period  I  thought  of  cutting  the  corpse 
into  minute  fragments  and  destroying  them  by  fire.  At 
another  I  resolved  to  dig  a  grave  for  it  in  the  floor  of 
the  cellar.  Again,  I  deliberated  about  casting  it  in  the 
well  in  the  yard — about  packing  it  in  a  box,  as  if 
merchandise,  with  the  usual  arrangements,  and  so  getting 
a  porter  to  take  it  from  the  house.  Finally  I  hit  upon 
what  I  considered  a  far  better  expedient  than  either  of 
these.  I  determined  to  wall  it  up  in  the  cellar — as  the 
monks  of  the  middle  ages  are  recorded  to  have  walled  up 
their  victims. 

For  a  purpose  such  as  this  the  cellar  was  well 
adapted.  Its  walls  were  loosely  constructed  and  had 
lately  been  plastered  throughout  with  a  rough  plaster, 
which  the  dampness  of  the  atmosphere  had  prevented 
from  hardening.  Moreover,  in  one  of  the  walls  was  a 
projection  caused  by  a  false  chimney  or  fireplace,  that 
had  been  filled  up  and  made  to  resemble  the  rest  of  the 
cellar.  I  made  no  doubt  that  I  could  readily  displace 
the  bricks  at  this  point,  insert  the  corpse,  and  wall  the 
whole  up  as  before,  so  that  no  eye  could  detect  anything 
suspicious. 

And  in  this  calculation  I  was  not  deceived.      By 


THE  BLACK  CAT.  261 

means  of  a  crowbar  I  easily  dislodged  the  bricks,  and 
having  carefully  deposited  the  body  against  the  inner 
wall,  I  propped  it  in  that  position,  while  with  little 
trouble  I  relaid  the  whole  structure  as  it  originally 
stood.  Having  procured  mortar,  sand,  and  hair  with 
every  possible  precaution,  I  prepared  a  plaster  which 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  old,  and  with  this 
I  very  carefully  went  over  the  new  brick  work.  When 
I  had  finished  I  felt  satisfied  that  all  was  right.  The 
wall  did  not  present  the  slightest  appearance  of  having 
been  disturbed.  The  rubbish  on  the  floor  was  picked  up 
with  the  minutest  care.  I  looked  around  triumphantly, 
and  said  to  myself — "  Here  at  last,  then,  my  labor  has 
not  been  in  vain." 

My  next  step  was  to  look  for  the  beast  which  had 
been  the  cause  of  so  much  wretchedness,  for  I  had  at 
length  firmly  resolved  to  put  it  to  death.  Had  I  been 
able  to  meet  with  it  at  the  moment  there  could  have  been 
no  doubt  of  its  fate,  but  it  appeared  that  the  crafty 
animal  had  been  alarmed  at  the  violence  of  my  previous 
anger,  and  forbore  to  present  itself  in  my  present  mood. 
It  is  impossible  to  describe  or  to  imagine  the  deep,  the 
blissful  sense  of  relief  which  the  absence  of  the  detested 
creature  occasioned  in  my  bosom.  It  did  not  make  its 
appearance  during  the  night — and  thus  for  one  night  at 
least  since  its  introduction  into  the  house  I  soundly  and 
tranquilly  slept;  ay,  slept  even  with  the  burden  of 
murder  upon  my  soul ! 

The  second  and  the  third  day  passed,  and  still  my 
tormentor  came  not.  Once  again  I  breathed  as  a  free- 
man. The  monster,  in  terror,  had  fled  the  premises  for 
ever !  I  should  behold  it  no  more !  My  happiness  was 
supreme !  The  guilt  of  my  dark  deed  disturbed  me  but 
little.  Some  few  inquiries  had  been  made,  but  these 


262  THE  BLACK  CAT. 

had  been  readily  answered.  Even  a  search  had  been 
instituted — but  of  course  nothing  was  to  be  discovered. 
I  looked  upon  my  future  felicity  as  secured. 

Upon  the  fourth  day  of  the  assassination,  a  party  of 
the  police  came  very  unexpectedly  into  the  house,  and 
proceeded  again  to  make  rigorous  investigation  of  the 
premises.  Secure,  however,  in  the  inscrutability  of 
my  place  of  concealment,  I  felt  no  embarrassment  what- 
ever. The  officers  bade  me  accompany  them  in  their 
search.  They  left  no  nook  or  corner  unexplored.  At 
length,  for  the  third  or  fourth  time,  they  descended  into 
the  cellar.  I  quivered  not  in  a  muscle.  My  heart  beat 
calmly  as  that  of  one  who  slumbers  in  innocence. 
I  walked  the  cellar  from  end  to  end.  I  folded  my  arms 
upon  my  bosom,  and  roamed  easily  to  and  fro.  The 
police  were  thoroughly  satisfied,  and  prepared  to  depart. 
The  glee  at  my  heart  was  too  strong  to  be  restrained. 
I  burned  to  say  if  but  one  word  by  way  of  triumph, 
and  to  render  doubly  sure  their  assurance  of  my  guilt- 
lessness. 

"  Gentlemen,"  I  said  at  last,  as  the  party  ascended 
the  steps,  "  I  delight  to  have  allayed  your  suspicions. 
I  wish  you  all  health,  and  a  little  more  courtesy. 
By-the-by,  gentlemen,  this — this  is  a  very  well  con- 
structed house."  [In  the  rabid  desire  to  say  something 
easily,  I  scarcely  knew  what  I  uttered  at  all.] — "  I  may 
say  an  excellently  well-constructed  house.  These  walls 
— are  you  going,  gentlemen  ? — these  walls  are  solidly  put 
together ; "  and  here,  through  the  mere  frenzy  of  bra- 
vado, I  rapped  heavily  with  a  cane  which  I  held  in  my 
hand  upon  that  very  portion  of  the  brick  work  behind 
which  stood  the  corpse  of  the  wife  of  my  bosom. 

But  may  God  shield  and  deliver  me  from  the  fangs 
of  the  arch-fiend!  No  sooner  had  the  reverberation  of 


THE  BLACK  CAT.  263 

my  blows  sunk  into  silence  than  I  was  answered  by  a 
voice  from  within  the  tomb  !  by  a  cry,  at  first  muffled 
and  broken,  like  the  sobbing  of  a  child,  and  then 
quickly  swelling  into  one  long,  loud  and  continuous 
scream,  utterly  anomalous  and  inhuman — a  howl — a 
wailing  shriek,  half  of  horror  and  half  of  triumph,  such 
as  might  have  arisen  only  out  of  hell,  conjointly  from 
the  throats  of  the  damned  in  their  agony  and  of  the 
demons  that  exult  in  the  damnation. 

Of  my  own  thoughts  it  is  folly  to  speak.  Swooning,  I 
staggered  to  the  opposite  wall.  For  one  instant  the 
party  upon  the  stairs  remained  motionless,  through 
extremity  of  terror  and  of  awe.  In  the  next  a  dozen 
stout  arms  were  toiling  at  the  wall.  It  fell  bodily. 
The  corpse,  already  greatly  decayed  and  clotted  with 
gore,  stood  erect  before  the  eyes  of  the  spectators. 
Upon  its  head,  with  red  extended  mouth  and  solitary 
eye  of  fire,  sat  the  hideous  beast  whose  craft  had 
seduced  me  into  murder,  and  whose  informing  voice 
had  consigned  me  to  the  hangman.  I  had  walled  the 
monster  up  within  the  tomb  1 


THE  ASSIGNATION. 

Stay  for  me  there !  I  will  not  fail 
To  meet  thee  in  that  hollow  vale. 

—Exeqvy  on  the  death  of  his  wife,  by 
Henry  King,  Bishop  of  CMchester. 

Ill-fated  and  mysterious  man!  bewildered  in  the 
brilliancy  of  thine  own  imagination,  and  fallen  in  the 
flames  of  thine  own  youth !  Again  in  fancy  I  behold 
thee !  Once  more  thy  form  hath  risen  before  me ! — 
not — oh  not  as  thou  art — in  the  cold  valley  and 
shadow — but  as  thou  shouldst  be — squandering  away 
a  life  of  magnificent  meditation  in  that  city  of  dim 
visions,  thine  own  Venice — which  is  a  star-beloved 
Elysium  of  the  sea,  and  the  wide  windows  of  whose 
Palladian  palaces  look  down  with  a  deep  and  bitter 
meaning  upon  the  secrets  of  her  silent  waters.  Yes ! 
I  repeat  it — as  thou  shouldst  be.  There  are  surely 
other  worlds  than  this — other  thoughts  than  the  thoughts 
of  the  multitude — other  speculations  than  the  specula- 
tions of  the  sophists.  Who  then  shall  call  thy  conduct 
into  question  ?  who  blame  thee  for  thy  visionary  hours, 
or  denounce  these  occupations  as  a  wasting  away  of  life, 
which  were  but  the  overflowings  of  thine  everlasting 
energies  ? 

It  was  at  Venice,  beneath  the  covered  archway  there 
called  the  Ponte  di  Sospiri,  that  I  met  for  the  third  or 
fourth  time  the  person  of  whom  I  speak.  It  is  with 
(265) 


266  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

a  confused  recollection  that  I  bring  to  mind  the 
circumstances  of  that  meeting.  Yet  I  remember — ah ! 
how  should  I  forget  ? — the  deep  midnight,  the  Bridge  of 
Sighs,  the  beauty  of  woman,  and  the  Genius  of  Romance, 
that  stalked  up  and  down  the  narrow  canal. 

It  was  a  night  of  unusual  gloom.  The  great  clock 
of  the  Piazza  had  sounded  the  fifth  hour  of  the  Italian 
evening.  The  square  of  the  Campanile  lay  silent  and 
deserted,  and  the  lights  in  the  old  Ducal  Palace  were 
dying  fast  away.  I  was  returning  home  from  the 
Piazetta  by  way  of  the  Grand  Canal.  But  as  my 
gondola  arrived  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  canal  San 
Marco,  a  female  voice  from  its  recesses  broke  suddenly 
upon  the  night  in  one  wild,  hysterical,  and  long-con- 
tinued shriek.  Startled  at  the  sound,  I  sprang  upon 
my  feet ;  while  the  gondolier,  letting  slip  his  single  oar, 
lost  it  in  the  pitchy  darkness  beyond  a  chance  of 
recovery,  and  we  were  consequently  left  to  the  guidance 
of  the  current  which  here  sets  from  the  greater  into  the 
smaller  channel.  Like  some  huge  and  sable-feathered 
condor,  we  were  slowly  drifting  down  towards  the  Bridge 
of  Sighs,  when  a  thousand  flambeaux  flashing  from  the 
windows,  and  down  the  staircases  of  the  Ducal  Palace, 
turned  all  at  once  that  deep  gloom  into  a  livid  and  pre- 
ternatural day. 

A  child,  slipping  from  the  arms  of  its  own  mother 
had  fallen  from  an  upper  window  of  the  lofty  structure 
into  the  deep  and  dim  canal.  The  quiet  waters  had 
closed  placidly  over  their  victim ;  and  although  my 
own  gondola  was  the  only  one  in  sight,  many  a  stout 
swimmer,  already  in  the  stream,  was  seeking  in  vain 
upon  the  surface  the  treasure  which  was  to  be  found, 
alas !  only  within  the  abyss.  Upon  the  broad  black 
marble  flagstones  at  the  entrance  of  the  palace,  and  a 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  267 

few  steps  above  the  water,  stood  a  figure  which  none 
who  then  saw  can  have  ever  since  forgotten.  It  was  the 
Marchesa  Aphrodite — the  adoration  of  all  Venice — the 
gayest  of  the  gay — the  most  lovely  where  all  were 
beautiful — but  still  the  young  wife  of  the  old  and  in- 
triguing Mentoni,  and  the  mother  of  that  fair  child,  her 
first  and  only  one,  who  now,  deep  beneath  the  murky 
water,  was  thinking  in  bitterness  of  heart  upon  her  sweet 
caresses,  and  exhausting  its  little  life  in  struggles  to 
call  upon  her  name. 

She  stood  alone.  Her  small,  bare,  and  silvery  feet 
gleamed  in  the  black  marble  beneath  her.  Her  hair, 
not  as  yet  more  than  half  loosened  for  the  night  from 
its  ball-room  array,  clustered  amid  a  shower  of  diamonds 
round  and  round  her  classical  head,  in  curls  like  those 
of  the  young  Hyacinth.  A  snowy-white  and  gauze- 
like  drapery  seemed  to  be  nearly  the  sole  covering  to 
her  delicate  form ;  but  the  midsummer  and  midnight 
air  was  hot,  sullen  and  still,  and  no  motion  in  the  statue- 
like  form  itself  stirred  even  the  folds  of  that  raiment 
of  very  vapor  which  hung  around  it  as  the  heavy 
marble  hangs  around  the  Niobe.  Yet — strange  to 
say — her  large  lustrous  eyes  were  not  turned  down- 
wards upon  that  grave  wherein  her  brightest  hope  lay 
buried — but  riveted  in  a  widely  different  direction! 
The  prison  of  the  Old  Republic  is,  I  think,  the  state- 
liest building  in  all  Venice ;  but  how  could  that  lady 
gaze  so  fixedly  upon  it,  when  beneath  her  lay  stifling 
her  own  child?  Yon  dark  gloomy  niche,  too,  yawns 
right  opposite  her  chamber  window — what  then  could 
there  be  in  its  shadows,  in  its  architecture,  in  its 
ivy-wreathed  and  solemn  cornices — that  the  Marchesa 
di  Mentoni  had  not  wondered  at  a  thousand  times 
before?  Nonsense! — Who  does  not  remember,  that 


268  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

at  such  a  time  as  this,  the  eye  like  a  shattered  mirror, 
multiplies  the  images  of  its  sorrow,  and  sees  in  innumer- 
able far-off  places,  the  woe  which  is  close  at  hand  ? 

Many  steps  above  the  Marchesa,  and  within  the  arch 
of  the  water-gate,  stood  in  full  dress,  the  Satyr-like 
figure  of  Mentoni  himself.  He  was  occasionally  occu- 
pied in  thrumming  a  guitar,  and  seemed  ennuye  to  the 
very  death,  as  at  intervals  he  gave  directions  for  the 
recovery  of  his  child.  Stupefied  and  aghast,  I  had 
myself  no  power  to  move  from  the  upright  position  I 
had  assumed  upon  first  hearing  the  shriek,  and  must 
have  presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  agitated  group  a 
spectral  and  ominous  appearance,  as  with  pale  counten- 
ance and  rigid  limbs  I  floated  down  among  them  in  that 
funeral  gondola. 

All  efforts  proved  in  vain.  Many  of  the  most  ener- 
getic in  the  search  were  relaxing  their  exertions,  and 
yielding  to  a  gloomy  sorrow.  There  seemed  but  little 
hope  for  the  child  (how  much  less  then  for  the  mother !) 
but  now,  from  the  interior  of  that  dark  niche  which 
has  been  already  mentioned  as  forming  a  part  of  the 
Old  Republican  prison,  and  as  fronting  the  lattice  of 
the  Marchesa,  a  figure  muffled  in  a  cloak  stepped  out 
within  reach  of  the  light,  and,  pausing  a  moment 
upon  the  verge  of  the  giddy  descent,  plunged  headlong 
into  the  canal.  As  in  an  instant  afterwards  he  stood 
with  the  still  living  and  breathing  child  within  his 
grasp  upon  the  marble  flagstones  by  the  side  of  the 
Marchesa,  his  cloak  heavy  with  the  drenching  water 
became  unfastened,  and,  falling  in  folds  about  his 
feet,  discovered  to  the  wonder-stricken  spectators  the 
graceful  person  of  a  very  young  man,  with  the  sound 
of  whose  name  the  greater  part  of  Europe  was  then 
ringing. 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  269 

No  word  spoke  the  deliverer.  But  the  Marchesa ! 
She  will  now  receive  her  child — she  will  press  it  to  her 
heart — she  will  cling  to  its  little  form,  and  smother  it 
with  her  caresses.  Alas !  another's  arms  have  taken  it 
from  the  stranger — another's  arms  have  taken  it  away, 
and  borne  it  afar  off,  unnoticed,  into  the  palace  !  And 
the  Marchesa!  Her  lip — her  beautiful  lip  trembles: 
tears  are  gathering  in  her  eyes — those  eyes  which, 
like  Pliny's  acanthus,  are  "  soft  and  almost  liquid." 
Yes !  tears  are  gathering  in  those  eyes — and  see !  the 
entire  woman  thrills  throughout  the  soul,  and  the  statue 
has  started  into  life !  The  pallor  of  the  marble  coun- 
tenance, the  swelling  of  the  marble  bosom,  the  very 
purity  of  the  marble  feet,  we  behold  suddenly  flushed 
over  with  a  tide  of  ungovernable  crimson ;  and  a 
slight  shudder  quivers  about  her  delicate  frame,  as  a 
gentle  air  at  Napoli  about  the  rich  silver  lilies  in  the 
grass. 

Why  should  that  lady  blush?  To  this  demand 
there  is  no  answer — except  that  having  left,  in  the 
eager  haste  and  terror  of  a  mother's  heart,  the  privacy 
of  her  own  boudoir,  she  has  neglected  to  enthrall  her 
tiny  feet  in  their  slippers,  and  utterly  forgotten  to 
throw  over  her  Venetian  shoulders  that  drapery  which 
is  their  due.  "What  other  possible  reason  could  there 
have  been  for  her  so  blushing  ? — for  the  glance  of  those 
wild  appealing  eyes?  for  the  unusual  tumult  of  that 
throbbing  bosom  ? — for  the  convulsive  pressure  of  that 
trembling  hand? — that  hand  which  fell,  as  Mentoni 
turned  into  the  palace,  accidentally,  upon  the  hand 
of  the  stranger.  What  reason  could  there  have  been 
for  the  low — the  singularly  low  tone  of  those  unmean- 
ing words  which  the  lady  uttered  hurriedly  in  bidding 
him  adieu  ?  "  Thou  hast  conquered,  "  she  said,  or  the 


270  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

murmurs  of  the  water  deceived  me ;   "  thou  hast  con- 
quered— one  hour  after  sunrise — we  shall  meet — so  let 

it  be ! " 

^|C  5)C  «|C  9|C  *JC  5JC 

The  tumult  had  subsided,  the  lights  had  died  away 
within  the  palace,  and  the  stranger  whom  I  now  recog- 
nized stood  alone  upon  the  flags.  He  shook  with  incon- 
ceivable agitation,  and  his  eye  glanced  around  in  search 
of  a  gondola.  I  could  not  do  less  than  offer  him  the 
service  of  my  own ;  and  he  accepted  the  civility.  Hav- 
ing obtained  an  oar  at  the  water-gate,  we  proceeded 
together  to  his  residence,  while  he  rapidly  recovered  his 
self-possession,  and  spoke  of  our  former  slight  acquaint- 
ance in  terms  of  great  apparent  cordiality. 

There  are  some  subjects  upon  which  I  take  pleasure 
in  being  minute.  The  person  of  the  stranger — let  me 
call  him  by  this  title,  who  to  all  the  world  was  still  a 
stranger — the  person  of  a  stranger  is  one  of  these 
subjects.  In  height  he  might  have  been  below  rather 
than  above  the  medium  size :  although  there  were 
moments  of  intense  passion  when  his  frame  actually 
expanded  and  belied  the  assertion.  The  light,  almost 
slender  symmetry  of  his  figure,  promised  more  of  that 
ready  activity  which  he  evinced  at  the  Bridge  of  Sighs, 
than  of  that  Herculean  strength  which  he  has  been 
known  to  wield  without  an  effort,  upon  occasions  of 
more  dangerous  emergency.  With  the  mouth  and  chin 
of  a  deity— singular,  wild,  full,  liquid  eyes,  whose  shadows 
varied  from  pure  hazel  to  intense  and  brilliant  jet — 
and  a  profusion  of  curling  black  hair,  from  which  a 
forehead  of  unusual  breadth  gleamed  forth  at  intervals 
all  light  and  ivory — his  were  features  than  which  I  have 
seen  none  more  classically  regular,  except,  perhaps,  the 
marble  ones  of  the  Emperor  Commodus.  Yet  his 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  271 

countenance  was,  nevertheless,  one  of  those  which  all 
men  have  seen  at  some  period  of  their  lives,  and  have 
never  afterwards  seen  again.  It  had  no  peculiar — it 
had  no  settled  predominant  expression  to  be  fastened 
upon  the  memory ;  a  countenance  seen  and  instantly 
forgotten — but  forgotten  with  a  vague  and  never-ceasing 
desire  of  recalling  it  to  mind.  Not  that  the  spirit  of 
each  rapid  passion  failed,  at  any  time,  to  throw  its  own 
distinct  image  upon  the  mirror  of  that  face — but  that 
the  mirror,  mirror-like,  retained  no  vestige  of  the  passion 
when  the  passion  had  departed. 

Upon  leaving  him  on  the  night  of  our  adventure,  he 
solicited  me,  in  what  I  thought  an  urgent  manner,  to 
call  upon  him  very  early  the  next  morning.  Shortly 
after  sunrise  I  found  myself  accordingly  at  his  Palazzo, 
one  of  those  huge  structures  of  gloomy,  yet  fantastic 
pomp,  which  tower  above  the  waters  of  the  Grand  Canal 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Kialto.  I  was  shown  up  a  broad 
winding  staircase  of  mosaics  into  an  apartment  whose 
unparalleled  splendor  burst  through  the  opening  door 
with  an  actual  glare,  making  me  blind  and  dizzy  with 
luxuriousness. 

I  knew  my  acquaintance  to  be  wealthy.  Report  had 
spoken  of  his  possessions  in  terms  which  I  had  even 
ventured  to  call  terms  of  ridiculous  exaggeration.  But 
as  I  gazed  about  me,  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  believe 
that  the  wealth  of  any  subject  in  Europe  could  have 
supplied  the  princely  magnificence  which  burned  and 
blazed  around. 

Although,  as  I  say,  the  sun  had  arisen,  yet  the  room 
was  still  brilliantly  lighted  up.  I  judge  from  this  cir- 
cumstance, as  well  as  from  an  air  of  exhaustion  in  the 
countenance  of  my  friend,  that  he  had  not  retired  to 
bed  during  the  whole  of  the  preceding  night.  In  the 


272  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

architecture  and  embellishments  of  the  chamber,  the 
evident  design  had  been  to  dazzle  and  astound.  Little 
attention  had  been  paid  to  the  decora  of  what  is  techni- 
cally called  keeping,  or  to  the  proprieties  of  nationality. 
The  eye  wandered  from  object  to  object,  and  rested  upon 
none — neither  the  grotesques  of  the  Greek  painters,  nor 
the  sculptures  of  the  best  Italian  days,  nor  the  huge 
carvings  of  untutored  Egypt.  Rich  draperies  in  every 
part  of  the  room  trembled  to  the  vibration  of  low, 
melancholy  music,  whose  origin  was  not  to  be  discovered. 
The  senses  were  oppressed  by  mingled  and  conflicting 
perfumes,  reeking  up  from  strange  convolute  censers, 
together  with  multitudinous  flaring  and  flickering 
tongues  of  emerald  and  violet  fire.  The  rays  of  the 
newly  risen  sun  poured  in  upon  the  whole,  through 
windows,  formed  each  of  a  single  pane  of  crimson-tinted 
glass.  Glancing  to  and  fro,  in  a  thousand  reflections, 
from  curtains  which  rolled  from  their  cornices  like 
cataracts  of  molten  silver,  the  beams  of  natural  glory 
mingled  at  length  fitfully  with  the  artificial  light,  and 
lay  weltering  in  subdued  masses  upon  a  carpet  of  rich, 
liquid-looking  cloth  of  Chili  gold. 

"  Ha !  ha !  ha ! — ha !  ha !  ha ! " — laughed  the  pro- 
prietor, motioning  me  to  a  seat  as  I  entered  the  room, 
and  throwing  himself  back  at  full  length  upon  an  otto- 
man. "  I  see,"  said  he,  perceiving  that  I  could  not 
immediately  reconcile  myself  to  the  bienseance  of  so 
singular  a  welcome — "  I  see  you  are  astonished  at  my 
apartment — at  my  statues — my  pictures — my  origi- 
nality of  conception  in  architecture  and  upholstery  ! 
absolutely  drunk,  eh,  with  my  magnificence?  But 
pardon  me,  my  dear  sir  (here  his  tone  of  voice  dropped 
to  the  very  spirit  of  cordiality),  pardon  me  for  my  un- 
charitable laughter.  You  appeared  so  utterly  astonished. 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  273 

\ 

Besides,  some  things  are  so  completely  ludicrous  that  a 
man  must  laugh  or  die.  To  die  laughing  must  be  the 
most  glorious  of  all  glorious  deaths!  Sir  Thomas 
More — a  very  fine  man  was  Sir  Thomas  More — Sir 
Thomas  More  died  laughing,  you  remember.  Also 
in  the  Absurdities  of  Ravisius  Textor  there  is  a  long 
list  of  characters  who  came  to  the  same  magnificent 
end.  Do  you  know,  however,"  continued  he,  musingly, 
"  that  at  Sparta  (which  is  now  Palseochori),  at  Sparta, 
I  say,  to  the  west  of  the  citadel,  among  a  chaos  of 
scarcely  visible  ruins,  is  a  kind  of  socle  upon  which  are 
still  legible  the  letters  AA£M.  They  are  undoubtedly 
part  of  TEAAHMA.  Now,  at  Sparta,  were  a  thou- 
sand temples  and  shrines  to  a  thousand  different  divini- 
ties. How  exceedingly  strange  that  the  altar  of 
Laughter  should  have  survived  all  the  others!  But 
in  the  present  instance,"  he  resumed,  with  a  singular 
alteration  of  voice  and  manner,  "  I  have  no  right  to 
be  merry  at  your  expense.  You  might  well  have  been 
amazed.  Europe  cannot  produce  anything  so  fine  as 
this  my  little  regal  cabinet.  My  other  apartments  are 
by  no  means  of  the  same  order — mere  ultras  of  fashion- 
able insipidity.  This  is  better  than  fashion — is  it  not  ? 
Yet  this  has  but  to  be  seen  to  become  the  rage — that 
is  with  those  who  could  afford  it  at  the  cost  of  their 
entire  patrimony.  I  have  guarded,  however,  against 
any  such  profanation.  With  one  exception  you  are 
the  only  human  being,  besides  myself  and  my  valet, 
who  has  been  admitted  within  the  mysteries  of  these 
imperial  precincts  since  they  have  been  bedizened  as 


you  see 


I  bowed  in  acknowledgment — for  the  overpowering 
sense  of  splendor,  and  perfume,  and  music,  together 
VoL  I.— 18. 


274  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

with  the  unexpected  eccentricity  of  his  address  and 
manner,  prevented  me  from  expressing  in  words  my 
appreciation  of  what  I  might  have  construed  into  a 
compliment. 

"  Here,"  he  resumed,  arising  and  leaning  on  my  arm 
as  he  sauntered  around  the  apartment,  "  here  are  paint- 
ings from  the  Greeks  to  Cimabue,  and  from  Cimabue  to 
the  present  hour.  Many  are  chosen,  as  you  see,  with 
little  deference  to  the  opinions  of  Virtu.  They  are  all, 
however,  fitting  tapestry  for  a  chamber  such  as  this. 
Here,  too,  are  some  chefs  d'ceuvre  of  the  unknown 
great ;  and  here  unfinished  designs  by  men  celebrated 
in  their  day,  whose  very  names  the  perspicacity  of  the 
academies  has  left  to  silence  and  to  me.  What  think 
you,"  said  he,  turning  abruptly  as  he  spoke — "what 
think  you  of  this  Madonna  della  Pieta  ?  " 

"  It  is  Guido's  own,"  I  said,  with  all  the  enthusiasm 
of  my  nature,  for  I  had  been  poring  intently  over  its 
surpassing  loveliness.  "  It  is  Guido's  own ! — how  could 
you  have  obtained  it  ?  She  is  undoubtedly  in  painting 
what  the  Venus  is  in  sculpture." 

"Ha!"  said  he  thoughtfully,  "the  Venus— the 
beautiful  Venus  ? — the  Venus  of  the  Medici  ? — she  of 
the  diminutive  head  and  the  gilded  hair  ?  Part  of  the 
left  arm  (here  his  voice  dropped  so  as  to  be  heard  with 
difficulty)  and  all  the  right  are  restorations ;  and  in  the 
coquetry  of  that  right  arm  lies,  I  think,  the  quintessence 
of  all  affectation.  Give  me  the  Canova !  The  Apollo, 
too,  is  a  copy — there  can  be  no  doubt  of  it — blind  fool 
that  I  am  who  cannot  behold  the  boasted  inspiration  of 
the  Apollo !  I  cannot  help — pity  me ! — I  cannot  help 
preferring  the  Antinous.  Was  it  not  Socrates  who  said 
that  the  statuary  found  his  statue  in  the  block  of 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  275 

marble?     Then    Michael    Angelo  was  by  no  means 
original  in  his  couplet — 

'Non  ha  I'ottimo  artista  alcun  concetto 
Che  un  marmo  solo  in  se  non  circonscriva.' " 

It  has  been  or  should  be  remarked  that  in  the  manner 
of  the  true  gentleman  we  are  always  aware  of  a  differ- 
ence from  the  bearing  of  the  vulgar,  without  being  at 
once  precisely  able  to  determine  in  what  such  difference 
consists.  Allowing  the  remark  to  have  applied  in  its  full 
force  to  the  outward  demeanor  of  my  acquaintance,  I 
felt  it  on  that  eventful  morning  still  more  fully  appli- 
cable to  his  moral  temperament  and  character.  Nor 
can  I  better  define  that  peculiarity  of  spirit  which  seemed 
to  place  him  so  essentially  apart  from  all  other  human 
beings,  than  by  calling  it  a  habit  of  intense  and  con- 
tinual thought  pervading  even  his  most  trivial  actions — 
intruding  upon  his  moments  of  dalliance,  and  inter- 
weaving itself  with  his  very  flashes  of  merriment — like 
adders  which  writhe  from  out  the  eyes  of  the  grinning 
masks  in  the  cornices  around  the  temples  of  Persepolis. 

I  could  not  help,  however,  repeatedly  observing 
through  the  mingled  tone  of  levity  and  solemnity  with 
which  he  rapidly  descanted  upon  matters  of  little  im- 
portance, a  certain  air  of  trepidation — a  degree  of 
nervous  unction  in  action  and  in  speech — an  unquiet 
excitability  of  manner  which  appeared  to  me  at  all  times 
unaccountable,  and  upon  some  occasions  even  filled  me 
with  alarm.  Frequently,  too,  pausing  in  the  middle  of 
a  sentence  whose  commencement  he  had  apparently 
forgotten,  he  seemed  to  be  listening  in  the  deepest  atten- 
tion as  if  either  in  momentary  expectation  of  a  visitor, 
or  to  sounds  which  must  have  had  existence  in  his 
imagination  alone. 


276  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

It  was  during  one  of  these  reveries  or  pauses  of  ap- 
parent abstraction,  that,  in  turning  over  a  page  of  the 
poet  and  scholar  Politian's  beautiful  tragedy,  "The 
Orfeo  "  (the  first  native  Italian  tragedy),  which  lay  near 
me  upon  an  ottoman,  I  discovered  a  passage  underlined 
in  pencil.  It  was  a  passage  towards  the  end  of  the  third 
act — a  passage  of  the  most  heart-stirring  excitement — a 
passage  which,  although  tainted  with  impurity,  no  man 
shall  read  without  a  thrill  of  novel  emotion — no  woman 
without  a  sigh.  The  whole  page  was  blotted  with  fresh 
tears ;  and  upon  the  opposite  interleaf  were  the  following 
English  lines,  written  in  a  hand  so  very  different  from 
the  peculiar  characters  of  my  acquaintance,  that  I  had 
some  difficulty  in  recognizing  it  as  his  own : 

Thou  wast  that  all  to  me,  love, 

For  which  my  soul  dirt  pine — 
A  green  isle  in  the  sea,  love, 

A  fountain  and  a  shrine, 
All  wreathed  with  fairy  fruits  and  flowers; 

And  all  the  flowers  were  mine. 

Ah,  dream  too  bright  to  last ! 

Ah,  starry  Hope,  that  didst  arise 
But  to  be  overcast ! 

A  voice  from  out  the  Future  cries, 
"  Onward !  "—but  o'er  the  past 

(Dim  gulf ! )  my  spirit  hovering  lies, 
Mute— motionless— aghast ! 

For  alas !  alas !  with  me 

The  light  of  life  is  o'er. 
"  No  more — no  more— no  more," 

(Such  language  holds  the  solemn  sea 
To  the  sands  upon  the  shore), 

Shall  bloom  the  thunder-blasted  tree, 
Or  the  stricken  eagle  soar ! 

Now  all  my  hours  are  trances ; 

And  all  my  nightly  dreams 
Are  where  thy  dark  eye  glances. 

And  where  thy  footstep  gleams — 
In  what  ethereal  dances — 

By  what  Italian  streams ! 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  277 

Alas !  for  that  accursed  time 

They  bore  thee  o'er  the  billow, 
From  love  to  titled  age  and  crime, 

And  au  unholy  pillow ! — 
From  me,  and  from  our  misty  clime. 

Where  weeps  the  silver  willow  I 

That  these  lines  were  written  in  English — a  language 
with  which  I  had  not  believed  their  author  acquainted — 
afforded  me  little  matter  for  surprise.  I  was  too  well 
aware  of  the  extent  of  his  acquirements,  and  of  the  sin- 
gular pleasure  he  took  in  concealing  them  from  obser- 
vation, to  be  astonished  at  any  similar  discovery ;  but 
the  place  of  date,  I  must  confess,  occasioned  me  no  little 
amazement.  It  had  been  originally  written  in  London, 
and  afterwards  carefully  overscored — not,  however,  so 
effectually  as  to  conceal  the  word  from  a  scrutinizing 
eye.  I  say  this  occasioned  me  no  little  amazement ;  for 
I  well  remember  that,  in  a  former  conversation  with  my 
friend,  I  particularly  inquired  if  he  had  at  any  time  met 
in  London  the  Marchesa  di  Mentoni  (who  for  some  years 
previous  to  her  marriage  had  resided  in  that  city),  when 
his  answer,  if  I  mistake  not,  gave  me  to  understand  that 
he  had  never  visited  the  metropolis  of  Great  Britain. 
I  might  as  well  here  mention  that  I  have  more  than  onpe 
heard  (without,  of  course,  giving  credit  to  a  report  in- 
volving so  many  improbabilities),  that  the  person  of 
whom  I  speak  was,  not  only  by  birth,  but  in  education 
an  Englishman. 

3fC  5f»  3|»  *$*  *{€  5jC 

"  There  is  one  painting,"  said  he,  without  being  aware 
of  my  notice  of  the  tragedy — "  there  is  still  one  paint- 
ing which  you  have  not  seen."  And  throwing  aside  a 
drapery,  he  discovered  a  full-length  portrait  of  the  Mar- 
chesa Aphrodite. 

Human  art  could  have  done  no  more  in  the  delineation 


278  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

of  her  superhuman  beauty.  The  same  ethereal  figure 
which  stood  before  me  the  preceding  night  upon  the 
steps  of  the  Ducal  Palace,  stood  before  me  once  again. 
But  in  the  expression  of  the  countenance,  which  was 
beaming  all  over  with  smiles,  there  still  lurked  (incom- 
prehensible anomaly!)  that  fitful  stain  of  melancholy 
which  will  ever  be  found  inseparable  from  the  perfection 
of  the  beautiful.  Her  right  arm  lay  folded  over  her 
bosom.  With  her  left  she  pointed  downward  to  a  curi- 
ously fashioned  vase.  One  small,  fairy  foot,  alone  vis- 
ible barely  touched  the  earth  ;  and  scarcely  discernible 
in  the  brilliant  atmosphere  which  seemed  to  encircle 
and  enshrine  her  loveliness,  floated  a  pair  of  the  most 
delicately  imagined  wings.  My  glance  fell  from  the 
painting  to  the  figure  of  my  friend,  and  the  vigorous 
words  of  Chapman's  Bussy  D'Ambois  quivered  instinc- 
tively upon  my  lips : 

"  He  is  up 

There  like  a  Roman  statue  f    He  will  stand 
Till  Death  hath  made  him  marble ! " 

"  Come,"  he  said  at  length,  turning  towards  a  table 
of  richly  enameled  and  massive  silver,  upon  which 
were  a  few  goblets  fantastically  stained,  together  with 
two  large  Etruscan  vases,  fashioned  in  the  same  extra- 
ordinary model  as  that  in  the  foreground  of  the  portrait, 
and  filled  with  what  I  supposed  to  be  Johannisberger. 
"  Come,"  he  said  abruptly,  "  let  us  drink !  It  is  early — 
but  let  us  drink.  It  is  indeed  early,"  he  continued 
musingly,  as  a  cherub  with  a  heavy  golden  hammer 
made  the  apartment  ring  with  the  first  hour  after  sun- 
rise :  "  it  is  indeed  early — but  what  matters  it  ?  let  us 
drink !  Let  us  pour  out  an  offering  to  yon  solemn  sun 
which  these  gaudy  lamps  and  censers  are  so  eager  to 
subdue!"  And,  having  made  me  pledge  him  in  a 


THE  ASSIGNATION.  279 

bumper,  he  swallowed  in  rapid  succession  several  goblets 
of  the  wine. 

"  To  dream,"  he  continued,  resuming  the  tone  of  his 
desultory  conversation,  as  he  held  up  to  the  rich  light 
of  a  censer  one  of  the  magnificent  vases — "to  dream 
has  been  the  business  of  my  life.  I  have  therefore 
framed  for  myself,  as  you  see,  a  bower  of  dreams.  In 
the  heart  of  Venice  could  I  have  erected  a  better  ?  You 
behold  around  you,  it  is  true,  a  medley  of  architectural 
embellishments.  The  chastity  of  Ionia  is  offended  by 
antediluvian  devices,  and  the  sphinxes  of  Egypt  are 
outstretched  upon  carpets  of  gold.  Yet  the  effect  is 
incongruous  to  the  timid  alone.  Proprieties  of  place,  and 
especially  of  time,  are  the  bugbears  which  terrify  man- 
kind from  the  contemplation  of  the  magnificent.  Once  I 
was  myself  a  decorist ;  but  that  sublimation  of  folly  has 
palled  upon  my  soul.  All  this  is  now  the  fitter  for  my 
purpose.  Like  these  arabesque  censers,  my  spirit  is 
writhing  in  fire,  and  the  delirium  of  this  scene  is  fash- 
ioning me  for  the  wilder  visions  of  that  land  of  real 
dreams  whither  I  am  now  rapidly  departing."  He  here 
paused  abruptly,  bent  his  head  to  his  bosom,  and  seemed 
to  listen  to  a  sound  which  I  could  not  hear.  At  length, 
erecting  his  frame,  he  looked  upward,  and  ejaculated 
the  lines  of  the  Bishop  of  Chichester : 

"  Stay  for  me  there !   Iioittiiotfail 
To  meet  thee  in  that  hollow  vale." 

In  the  next  instant,  confessing  the  power  of  the  wine,  he 
fhrew  himself  at  full  length  upon  an  ottoman. 

A  quick  step  was  now  heard  upon  the  staircase,  and 
a  loud  knock  at  the  door  rapidly  succeeded.  I  was 
hastening  to  anticipate  a  second  disturbance,  when  a 
page  of  Mentoni's  household  burst  into  the  room,  and 


280  THE  ASSIGNATION. 

faltered  out,  in  a  voice  choking  with  emotion,  the  inco- 
herent words,  "  My  mistress ! — my  mistress ! — Poisoned ! 
— poisoned !  Oh,  beautiful — oh,  beautiful  Aphrodite ! " 
Bewildered,  I  flew  to  the  ottoman,  and  endeavored  to 
arouse  the  sleeper  to  a  sense  of  the  startling  intelligence. 
But  his  limbs  were  rigid — his  lips  were  livid — his  lately 
beaming  eyes  were  riveted  in  death.  I  staggered  back 
towards  the  table — my  hand  fell  upon  a  cracked  and 
blackened  goblet — and  a  consciousness  of  the  entire  and 
terrible  truth  flashed  suddenly  over  my  soul. 


THE  TELL-TALE  HEART. 

True!  nervous,  very,  very  dreadfully  nervous  I  had 
been  and  am ;  but  why  will  you  say  that  I  am  mad  ? 
The  disease  had  sharpened  my  senses,  not  destroyed,  not 
dulled  them.  Above  all  was  the  sense  of  hearing  acute. 
I  heard  all  things  in  the  heaven  and  in  the  earth.  I 
heard  many  things  in  hell.  How  then  am  I  mad? 
Hearken !  and  observe  how  healthily,  how  calmly,  I  can 
tell  you  the  whole  story. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  first  the  idea  entered  my 
brain,  but,  once  conceived,  it  haunted  me  day  and  night. 
Object  there  was  none.  Passion  there  was  none.  I  loved 
the  old  man.  He  had  never  wronged  me.  He  had 
never  given  me  insult.  For  his  gold  I  had  no  desire. 
I  think  it  was  his  eye !  Yes,  it  was  this !  One  of  his 
eyes  resembled  that  of  a  vulture — a  pale  blue  eye  with 
a  film  over  it.  Whenever  it  fell  upon  me  my  blood  ran 
cold,  and  so  by  degrees,  very  gradually,  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  take  the  life  of  the  old  man,  and  thus  rid  my- 
self of  the  eye  for  ever. 

Now  this  is  the  point.  You  fancy  me  mad.  Madmen 
know  nothing.  But  you  should  have  seen  me.  You 
should  have  seen  how  wisely  I  proceeded — with  what 
caution — with  what  foresight,  with  what  dissimulation, 
I  went  to  work!  I  was  never  kinder  to  the  old  man 
than  during  the  whole  week  before  I  killed  him.  And 
(281) 


282  THE  TELL-TALE  HEART. 

every  night  about  midnight  I  turned  the  latch  of  his 
door  and  opened  it — oh,  so  gently !  And  then  when 
I  had  made  an  opening  sufficient  for  my  head  I  put 
in  a  dark  lantern  all  closed,  closed  so  that  no  light  shone 
out,  and  then  I  thrust  in  my  head.  Oh,  you  would 
have  laughed  to  see  how  cunningly  I  thrust  it  in !  I 
moved  it  slowly,  very,  very  slowly,  so  that  I  might  not 
disturb  the  old  man's  sleep.  It  took  me  an  hour  to 
place  my  whole  head  within  the  opening  so  far  that  I 
could  see  him  as  he  lay  upon  his  bed.  Ha !  would  a 
madman  have  been  so  wise  as  this?  And  then  when 
my  head  was  well  in  the  room  I  undid  the  lantern 
cautiously — oh,  so  cautiously — cautiously  (for  the  hinges 
creaked),  I  undid  it  just  so  much  that  a  single  thin  ray 
fell  upon  the  vulture  eye.  And  this  I  did  for  seven 
long  nights,  every  night  just  at  midnight,  but  I  found 
the  eye  always  closed,  and  so  it  was  impossible  to  do  the 
work,  for  it  was  not  the  old  man  who  vexed  me,  but 
his  Evil  Eye.  And  every  morning,  when  the  day  broke, 
I  went  boldly  into  the  chamber  and  spoke  courageously 
to  him,  calling  him  by  name  in  a  hearty  tone,  and 
inquiring  how  he  had  passed  the  night.  So  you  see  he 
would  have  been  a  very  profound  old  man,  indeed,  to 
suspect  that  every  night,  just  at  twelve,  I  looked  in 
upon  him  while  he  slept. 

Upon  the  eighth  night  I  was  more  than  usually 
cautious  in  opening  the  door.  A  watch's  minute  hand 
moves  more  quickly  than  did  mine.  Never  before  that 
night  had  I  felt  the  extent  of  my  own  powers,  of  my  sa- 
gacity. I  could  scarcely  contain  my  feelings  of  triumph. 
To  think  that  there  I  was  opening  the  door  little  by 
little,  and  he  not  even  to  dream  of  my  secret  deeds  or 
thoughts.  I  fairly  chuckled  at  the  idea,  and  perhaps 
he  heard  me,  for  he  moved  on  the  bed  suddenly  as 


THE  TELL-TALE  HEART.  283 

if  startled.  Now  you  may  think  that  I  drew  back — 
but  no.  His  room  was  as  black  as  pitch  with  the  thick 
darkness  (for  the  shutters  were  close  fastened  through 
fear  of  robbers),  and  so  I  knew  that  he  could  not  see 
the  opening  of  the  door,  and  I  kept  pushing  it  on 
steadily,  steadily. 

I  had  my  head  in,  and  was  about  to  open  the  lan- 
tern, when  my  thumb  slipped  upon  the  tin  fastening, 
and  the  old  man  sprang  up  in  the  bed,  crying  out, 
"Who's  there?" 

I  kept  quite  still  and  said  nothing.  For  a  whole  hour 
I  did  not  move  a  muscle,  and  in  the  meantime  I  did  not 
hear  him  lie  down.  He  was  still  sitting  up  in  the  bed, 
listening ;  j  ust  as  I  have  done  night  after  night  hearken- 
ing to  the  death  watches  in  the  wall. 

Presently  I  heard  a  slight  groan,  and  I  knew  it  was 
the  groan  of  mortal  terror.  It  was  not  a  groan  of 
pain  or  of  grief — oh,  no !  it  was  the  low  stifled  sound 
that  arises  from  the  bottom  of  the  soul  when  over- 
charged with  awe.  I  knew  the  sound  well.  Many  a 
night,  just  at  midnight,  when  all  the  world  slept,  it 
has  welled  up  from  my  own  bosom,  deepening,  with 
its  dreadful  echo,  the  terrors  that  distracted  me.  I 
say  I  knew  it  well.  I  knew  what  the  old  man  felt, 
and  pitied  him  although  I  chuckled  at  heart.  I  knew 
that  he  had  been  lying  awake  ever  since  the  first 
slight  noise  when  he  had  turned  in  the  bed.  His 
fears  had  been  ever  since  growing  upon  him.  He 
had  been  trying  to  fancy  them  causeless,  but  could 
not.  He  had  been  saying  to  himself,  "  It  is  nothing 
but  the  wind  in  the  chimney ;  it  is  only  a  mouse  cross- 
ing the  floor,"  or  "  It  is  merely  a  cricket  which  has 
made  a  single  chirp."  Yes,  he  has  been  trying  to 
comfort  himself  with  these  suppositions;  but  he  had 


284  THE  TELL-TALE  HEART. 

found  all  in  vain.  All  in  vain,  because  Death  in  ap- 
proaching him  had  stalked  with  his  black  shadow 
before  him  and  enveloped  the  victim.  And  it  was  the 
mournful  influence  of  the  unperceived  shadow  that 
caused  him  to  feel,  although  he  neither  saw  nor  heard, 
to  feel  the  presence  of  my  head  within  the  room. 

When  I  had  waited  a  long  time  very  patiently 
without  hearing  him  lie  down,  I  resolved  to  open  a 
little — a  very,  very  little,  crevice  in  the  lantern.  So  I 
opened  it — you  cannot  imagine  how  stealthily,  stealthily 
— until  at  length  a  single  dim  ray  like  the  thread  of 
the  spider  shot  out  from  the  crevice  and  fell  upon  the 
vulture  eye. 

It  was  open,  wide,  wide  open,  and  I  grew  furious  as 
I  gazed  upon  it.  I  saw  it  with  perfect  distinctness — 
all  a  dull  blue  with  a  hideous  veil  over  it  that  chilled 
the  very  marrow  in  my  bones,  but  I  could  see  nothing 
else  of  the  old  man's  face  or  person,  for  I  had  directed 
the  ray  as  if  by  instinct  precisely  upon  the  damned 
spot. 

And  now  have  I  not  told  you  that  what  you  mistake 
for  madness  is  but  over-acuteness  of  the  senses  ?  Now, 
I  say,  there  came  to  my  ears  a  low,  dull,  quick  sound, 
such  as  a  watch  makes  when  enveloped  in  cotton.  I 
knew  that  sound  well,  too.  It  was  the  beating  of  the 
old  man's  heart.  It  increased  my  fury,  as  the  beating 
of  a  drum  stimulates  the  soldier  into  courage. 

But  even  yet  I  refrained  and  kept  still.  I  scarcely 
breathed.  I  held  the  lantern  motionless.  I  tried  how 
steadily  I  could  maintain  the  ray  upon  the  eye.  Mean- 
time the  hellish  tattoo  of  the  heart  increased.  It  grew 
quicker  and  quicker,  and  louder  and  louder,  every  in- 
stant. The  old  man's  terror  must  have  been  extreme ! 
It  grew  louder,  I  say,  louder  every  moment !— do  you 


THE  TELL-TALE  HEART.  285 

mark  me  well  ?  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  nervous : 
so  I  am.  And  now  at  the  dead  hour  of  the  night, 
amid  the  dreadful  silence  of  that  old  house,  so  strange 
a  noise  as  this  excited  me  to  uncontrollable  terror. 
Yet,  for  some  minutes  longer  I  refrained  and  stood 
still.  But  the  beating  grew  louder,  louder !  I  thought 
the  heart  must  burst.  And  now  a  new  anxiety  seized 
me — the  sound  would  be  heard  by  a  neighbor !  The 
old  man's  hour  had  come  !  With  a  loud  yell,  I  threw 
open  the  lantern  and  leaped  into  the  room.  He 
shrieked  once— once  only.  In  an  instant  I  dragged 
him  to  the  floor,  and  pulled  the  heavy  bed  over  him. 
I  then  smiled  gaily,  to  find  the  deed  so  far  done.  But 
for  many  minutes  the  heart  beats  on  with  a  muffled 
sound.  This,  however,  did  not  vex  me ;  it  would  not 
be  heard  through  the  wall.  At  length  it  ceased.  The 
old  man  was  dead.  I  removed  the  bed  and  examined 
the  corpse.  Yes,  he  was  stone,  stone  dead.  I  placed 
my  hand  upon  the  heart  and  held  it  there  many  min- 
utes. There  was  no  pulsation.  He  was  stone  dead. 
His  eye  would  trouble  me  no  more. 

If  still  you  think  me  mad,  you  will  think  so  no 
longer  when  I  describe  the  wise  precaution  I  took  for 
the  concealment  of  the  body.  The  night  waned,  and  I 
worked  hastily,  but  in  silence. 

I  took  up  three  planks  from  the  flooring  of  the 
chamber,  and  deposited  all  between  the  scantlings.  I 
then  replaced  the  boards  so  cleverly,  so  cunningly,  that 
no  human  eye — not  even  his — could  have  detected  any- 
thing wrong.  There  was  nothing  to  wash  out — no  stain 
of  any  kind — no  blood-spot  whatever.  I  had  been  too 
wary  for  that. 

When  I  had  made  an  end  of  these  labors,  it  was 
four  o'clock — still  dark  as  midnight.  As  the  bell 


286  THE  TELL-TALE  HEART. 

sounded  the  hour,  there  came  a  knocking  at  the  street 
door.  I  went  down  to  open  it  with  a  light  heart, — for 
what  had  I  now  to  fear?  There  entered  three  men, 
who  introduced  themselves,  with  perfect  suavity,  as 
officers  of  the  police.  A  shriek  had  been  heard  by  a 
neighbor  during  the  night ;  suspicion  of  foul  play  had 
been  aroused ;  information  had  been  lodged  at  the  police 
office,  and  they  (the  officers)  had  been  deputed  to 
search  the  premises. 

I  smiled — for  what  had  I  to  fear  ?  I  bade  the  gentle- 
men welcome.  The  shriek,  I  said,  was  my  own  in  a 
dream.  The  old  man,  I  mentioned,  was  absent  in  the 
country.  I  took  my  visitors  all  over  the  house.  I 
bade  them  search — search  well.  I  led  them,  at  length, 
to  his  chamber.  I  showed  them  his  treasures,  secure, 
undisturbed.  In  the  enthusiasm  of  my  confidence,  I 
brought  chairs  into  the  room,  and  desired  them  here  to 
rest  from  their  fatigues,  while  I  myself,  in  the  wild 
audacity  of  my  perfect  triumph,  placed  my  own  seat 
upon  the  very  spot  beneath  which  reposed  the  corpse 
of  the  victim. 

The  officers  were  satisfied.  My  manner  had  con- 
vinced them.  I  was  singularly  at  ease.  They  sat  and 
while  I  answered  cheerily  they  chatted  of  familiar 
things.  But,  ere  long,  I  felt  myself  getting  pale  and 
wished  them  gone.  My  head  ached,  and  I  fancied  a 
ringing  in  my  ears ;  but  still  they  sat,  and  still  chatted. 
The  ringing  became  more  distinct ;  — it  continued  and 
became  more  distinct :  I  talked  more  freely  to  get  rid 
of  the  feeling :  but  it  continued  and  gained  definitive- 
ness — until,  at  length,  I  found  that  the  noise  was  not 
within  my  ears. 

No  doubt  I  now  grew  very  pale ; — but  I  talked 
more  fluently,  and  with  a  heightened  voice.  Yet  the 


THE  TELL-TALE  HEART.  287 

sound  increased — and  what  could  I  do?  It  was  a 
low,  dull,  quick  sound — much  such  a  sound  as  a  watch 
makes  when  enveloped  in  cotton.  I  gasped  for  breath — 
and  yet  the  officers  heard  it  not.  I  talked  more 
quickly — more  vehemently ;  but  the  noise  steadily 
increased.  I  arose  and  argued  about  trifles,  in  a  high 
key  and  with  violent  gesticulations ;  but  the  noise 
steadily  increased.  Why  would  they  not  be  gone  ?  I 
paced  the  floor  to  and  fro  with  heavy  strides,  as  if  ex- 
cited to  fury  by  the  observations  of  the  men — but  the 
noise  steadily  increased.  O  God  !  what  could  I  do  ?  I 
foamed — I  raved — I  swore !  I  swung  the  chair  upon 
which  I  had  been  sitting,  and  grated  it  upon  the 
boards,  but  the  noise  arose  over  all  and  continually  in- 
creased. It  grew  louder — louder — louder!  And  still 
the  men  chatted  pleasantly,  and  smiled.  Was  it  possi- 
ble they  heard  not  ?  Almighty  God ! — no,  no !  They 
heard ! — they  suspected ! — they  knew  ! — they  were  mak- 
ing a  mockery  of  my  horror ! — this  I  thought,  and  this 
I  think.  But  anything  was  better  than  this  agony! 
Anything  was  more  tolerable  than  this  derision!  I 
could  bear  those  hypocritical  smiles  no  longer !  I  felt 
that  I  must  scream  or  die — and  now — again! — hark! 
louder!  louder!  louder!  louder! — 

"Villains!"  I  shrieked,  "dissemble  no  more!  •  I 
admit  the  deed ! — tear  up  the  planks ! — here,  here ! — it 
is  the  beating  of  his  hideous  heart ! " 


A     000  064  322     1 


